


The Best Thing That I Can Do for You

by Shadow15



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Anxiety, Child Abuse, Depression, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Self-Harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2018-06-21
Packaged: 2019-05-16 20:25:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 24
Words: 62,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14818280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadow15/pseuds/Shadow15
Summary: After George is attacked as a five-year-old, he is left with severe trauma and mental scarring that has never been able to go away.  Charlie, who has always loved George, no matter what, can't believe that George is actually trusting him - the one who let him down and allowed the attack to happen - to be the one to love him completely and utterly.





	1. Chapter 1

“Fred, you’re going to get us kicked out if you keep throwing your food at people.”

With wide, innocent eyes his family knew were anything  _ but  _ innocent, Fred looked up from where he had been loading his spoon with more peas to launch at passers-by so he could pout at his oldest brother. “You’re a party pooper, Bill.”

Charlie gave a haughty laugh as he rummaged through the small money bag their mother had given them earlier that day with instructions for Bill and Charlie to take their three siblings out for dinner.  Their parents had needed the rest with their two baby siblings demanding so much attention, Bill and Charlie had understood, so it was only natural they’d agreed. “We have enough money left over for some ice cream; who wants ice cream?”

While Percy gave a very simple  _ yes please,  _ the twins almost fell out of their chairs in excitement; ice cream was such a luxury, none of them could remember the last time they’d had it.  

“Alright, boys, finish your dinner first and then it’s ice cream time.” Bill threaded his fingers through his red hair as he smiled; his little brothers were so cute.  

George, despite being as much a troublemaker as his demon-spawn of a twin brother, tended to be quieter than Fred.  It was why none of them had heard much from him over dinner until now, as he leant over to tug at Charlie’s sleeve. “Charlie…?  I have to go toilet…” 

Charlie’s smile was still warm as he went to get to his feet.  “I’ll take you, Geor – oh, Percy? What is it?”

Percy pointed to his plate at the steak he hadn’t yet eaten.  “Can you cut it for me, Charlie?”

“Of course I can.  George, I’ll just be a moment, okay?” 

George shook his head.  “I gotta go, Charlie… I’ll be okay on my own, promise.  Okay?”

Against Charlie’s better judgement at letting a  _ five-year-old _ wander off on his own, he nodded; Bill had disappeared already to go and order their ice cream, and he knew how poor bladder control George had.  It was likely his little brother would wet himself if he had to wait a second longer – besides, the bathroom was  _ right there _ ; what could go wrong?  “Hurry, then, George.”

It didn’t take long to cut Percy’s food up for him, but by the time he’d finished, Fred wanted the same treatment, and then he made Charlie cut up George’s food as well so his twin wouldn’t feel left out when he’d come back.  After that, Bill had flagged him over - still waiting in line - to help him decide what flavour to go with and then show him how to count money properly. Fifteen minutes must have passed before they’d finally gotten back to their table, and as soon as he’d taken his seat, he frowned at the glum look on Fred’s face.

“What’s wrong, Fred?” 

Fred pouted.  He pushed his plate away as his face grew pale and he wrapped his arms around himself as if to self-comfort.  “I don’t feel right… And Georgie hasn’t come back yet…”

“Where’s George?” Bill grew alert now; he knew that on some level, the twins shared some sort of deep connection where, when George had once sprained his ankle falling off Charlie’s broom, Fred had felt it as well – was it possible that something had happened to George, and Fred was unknowingly feeling it as well?

“He went to the toilet, but he should be back by now…” Charlie swallowed past the thick lump in his throat; how could he have not noticed his brother was absent after all this time…?  “I’m going to go check on him.”

The walk to the bathroom was only a short one, but it felt like it had taken forever to get there as Charlie sifted through mental images of what he was going to find when he walked in.  However hard he had tried, however,  _ nothing  _ could have prepared him for where George was laying on the cold tiled floor, naked and covered in blood and bodily fluids, bruised up and trembling, face wet with tears as he tried to breathe past his own sock in his mouth in his unconsciousness.  

Charlie screamed.  

 

* * *

 

Charlie’s eyes snapped open with a start.  He hated that dream that reminded him of something he could never forget, no matter how hard he tried.  He sat up and rubbed at his face damp with sweat, and once he had shaken the images from his mind, he swung his legs over the edge of the mattress and stood up.  The floorboards creaked lightly under his feet, but he knew it wouldn’t bother Bill; Bill could sleep through an explosion.

His feet carried him along a path he’d walked countless times before until he was standing outside the twins’ bedroom door.  It was unlocked as it always was (Arthur had taken the lock off it three years ago when Fred had come running downstairs, bawling his eyes out whimpering George was trying to kill himself in their bedroom), so it swung open soundlessly. 

The sleeping boys’ figures were illuminated by the rays of the moon, Fred on the side closest to the door while George slept on the other side of the room.  Charlie tiptoed inside, glad to hear that, for once, George seemed to be sleeping through the night alright. 

He came to stand by Fred’s bed, and his fingers dragged gently through his brother’s soft hair.  Fred murmured something in his sleep, but he didn’t wake. It would be a different story if he were to try and do the same to George, though; George would wake up screaming.  

His hands tucked Fred in tightly so he wouldn’t feel the chill that was enveloping the Burrow, and as much as he would have loved to do the same for George, he couldn’t; instead, he straightened his back and left the room in silence.

It wasn’t easy living with the guilt of knowing  _ he  _ was the reason his baby brother had been…  Had been  _ raped _ .  Not a day would go by where he wouldn’t berate himself for having not gone with George to the toilet, even if it meant the other boys would have to wait a few minutes more for their food to be cut up for them.  If he’d just gone with George, maybe he could have…! 

Don’t blame yourself, Charlie…  

They were words he said to himself every day, but no matter how many times he or someone else said them to him, he  _ still  _ blamed himself.  

“Charlie…?” 

It hadn’t been Charlie’s departure that had woken Bill because his brother’s eyes had already opened seconds before Charlie had opened the door again.  “Yeah, Bill?”

Through his grogginess, Bill murmured, “You checked on the twins yet…?”

Charlie wasn’t the only one who felt responsible; Bill was the oldest brother, and his siblings’ safety had all rested on his shoulders – now, he was left with one traumatized brother and three others who would  _ never  _ be able to shake the images of that day or the consequent nightmares from their minds.

“He’s fine.” Charlie knew.  He knew all too well. By  _ twins,  _ Bill meant  _ George _ .  “He’s fast asleep.”

Bill nodded against his pillow.  “Go back to sleep. Goodnight, Char…”

“Goodnight.” Charlie got back into his bed and wrapped himself up beneath his blankets, but he knew sleep wasn’t coming back to him any time soon; not while the guilt ate away at him.  


	2. Chapter 2

Breakfast at the Burrow was always a loud affair – though to be completely honest, it was hard to find a moment’s peace there.  It was expected with nine people and a family ghoul under the same roof, but the thing about the Weasleys was that most of them were already loud enough for a small group on their own.  

“Scabbers doesn’t look so well…”

George looked up from where he’d been stirring his porridge around with his spoon.  He looked at Ron with empathy in his eyes; he and Fred had had their own cat at one point when they first started Hogwarts, but it had died not long after they’d arrived.  It wasn’t easy to lose a pet, and George knew that even though his brother complained about Scabbers, Ron  _ would  _ be saddened if the old rat were to die.  

From beside him, Fred’s mischievous smile crossed his face.  “He must have seen you getting dressed this morning. I’d be sick, too, if I had to witness that sight.”

George laughed, and just like his twin, his sharp tongue knew no bounds.  “Forget being sick over it; I’d keel over and die on the spot, Fred.”

The other Weasley siblings laughed as well – minus Ron, whose cheeks were now matching the shade of his red hair, and Percy, who had always been a stick in the mud – while Arthur and Molly scolded the twins.  

Chatter resumed over the dining table, and everything was peaceful until a loud thump filled the air.  Despite knowing it was simply the family owl flying into the window again, George still flinched and curled in on himself.  His skin rippled in uneasiness as he felt Fred grab his knee and squeeze in support, but he forced himself to relax; he was safe here with his family, and none of them would hurt him – he  _ knew  _ that.  

“Thanks, Freddie…” George’s murmur was quiet so that only Fred could hear.  He smiled slightly when he received a nod and final squeeze of his knee before his twin pulled his hand away and pretended nothing had happened.  

Bill, who had gotten up to fetch the post from Errol – who was laying in a daze in the dirt with faint hoots leaving his beak – called over his shoulder.  “Hogwarts letters, everyone. Mum, are you going to be right paying for all of this? I can help out if you want; I have some savings put away.”

Molly shook her head.  “No, no, dear, that’s fine!  We’re going to manage it! Now…   _ Getting  _ to Diagon Alley to buy everything will be another story; Arthur and I are going to be busy…”

Charlie, who hated seeing his mother looking so stressed, reached out to take the letters from his brother.  “I’ll go and get everything, mum. Don’t stress.” 

Molly looked so relieved, it hurt a little; he hated knowing how much his parents struggled to provide for his siblings, but usually whenever he offered to help out, Molly turned him down, feeling too ashamed to accept his or Bill’s coinage.  “Thank you, sweetheart. Take someone with you or else you’ll never be able to get everything home on your own. Bill?” 

Bill frowned.  “I organized to meet some old friends from school today, mum.  Sorry.” 

“That’s okay, honey.  Percy?” 

Percy shook his head.  “I was going to study this morning since it’s my last year and I want to make sure I do well.”

Molly was looking increasingly worried.  “Ginny? Ron?” 

It was when they both rattled off excuses as well did Fred raise his hand.  “Georgie and I’ll go with him, mum; not to worry! Lee’s gonna be around there today as well and he said he’d buy us ice cream if we can catch up.” 

A huge breath of relief escaped from Molly’s lungs now; she’d have asked the twins sooner if they could go with Charlie, but the last thing she wanted to do was put George on the spot and make him feel obligated if he wasn’t emotionally well enough to leave the house today.  “Thank you, boys. There should be enough gold in the vault…” 

“There will be, Molly; I made another deposit yesterday,” Arthur promised.  

Charlie smiled so brightly at the twins, his eyes crinkled.  “It’ll be fun, won’t it? You two can have  _ two  _ ice creams today; I’ll buy you guys one to share together as well.”

Fred shook his head.  “Just buy one for Georgie; he deserves it for not making a stupid excuse as to why he can’t go like all these other people here.   _ Studying,  _ Percy?  Really? What are you studying for?  How to make yourself more attractive?  I hate to break it to you but even Dumbledore couldn’t do that for you.” 

“Boys!” Even Molly had a smile on her face as she scolded Fred again – lightly, this time.  

Charlie stood up from the table.  “I’m going to go get dressed. Fred, George, we’ll leave in an hour, okay?” 

“Okay, but when we get back from Diagon Alley, everyone has to play Quidditch with us – except you, Percy.  We’d hate to take  _ studying  _ away from you.” Fred rolled his eyes.  “Maybe you should study a bit more on how to not be so socially inept.” 

With a smile, on his face, George stood as well.  “Fred, I’m going to go have a shower.” 

Fred smiled back at his twin.  “Okay, George. Don’t use all the hot water this time, though, princess.” 

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” 

George hated these moments where he was leaving his family behind to walk the corridors of his home alone.  He hated  _ being alone _ .  It was as if the second the environment was too quiet, he couldn’t turn his mind off and he’d be forced to think about things he didn’t want to remember.  

He’d tried obliviating himself once.  It hadn’t made him forget anything; all it’d done was give him a headache for the next week and the feeling of being delusional as he kept questioning reality and if what he was remembering was fabricated or really  _ had  _ happened.  It had been enough for him to not try it again, but some days he wished  _ so  _ much he had the courage to try again. 

_ Creeeaaaaak. _

The bathroom door clicked softly shut behind him.  He stood by the doorway for several minutes before he moved into the middle of the room and started undoing the buttons of his pyjama shirt.  He had almost slipped it from his body before his eyes caught sight of a fresh, deep red gash that curved around his bicep muscle and disappeared on the underside of his arm.  He winced. 

He  _ hated  _ personal hygiene.  It wasn’t that he didn’t  _ want  _ to be clean because he  _ did  _ – more so than his family would ever understand – but it was the whole,  _ naked  _ part about it that he hated.  It wasn’t uncommon for his family to beg him to take a shower because he would let himself go so much, but they didn’t get it; how could he  _ want  _ to shower when doing so would involve him seeing things that only made it more stressful for him?  

His breathing quickened slightly as the anxiety set in.  More skin made an appearance – more  _ marring _ .  Scars all down his arms from suicide attempts and self-harm.  Some of them he hadn’t even made himself; they’d been from that man he still saw every night in his nightmares, from where he’d cut through George’s flesh with a knife because apparently it was hilarious to see George cry and scream and  _ writhe  _ in agony.  

His torso was in a lot better shape, though there were still scars here and there as well, but not nearly as plentiful as on his arms or his thighs.  He stopped undressing, though. He moved to lean his back against the wall as he squeezed his eyes shut tight. He wasn’t about to cry; he was feeling much too empty for that right now.  Instead, he was trying to focus on his breathing to steady himself to do this, but in the end, all he could accomplish was putting his pyjama shirt back on and twisting the taps so he could duck his head under the cold stream of water for a few seconds and then sit on the ground with it still running.  

This was a lot easier when he was younger and had Fred to shower with him…  Fred always knew exactly how to look after him in the shower, but they were sixteen now, and his mother had long-since put a stop to it, saying they were too old and needed to bathe alone.  She had meant well, he understood, but still… She had cut off the only support he had when it came to these things… 

“George?” A knock at the door, and Percy’s voice floating through the hardwood.  “Is everything okay? You’ve been in there a long time. Fred wants to have a shower as well.” 

He frowned.  “Ah… I’ll be out in a minute, Perce; I just…  I’m washing my hair.” 

Percy was silent for seven seconds.  George knows, because he counted. “Alright.  Charlie is almost ready to leave. Don’t be much longer, okay?”

“Yeah…”

Footsteps.  George let out a sigh.  He stayed sitting for a minute longer before he stood up and splashed water at himself; it wasn’t unusual for him to have showered in his clothing, or even put it all back on before he’d leave the bathroom.  His family figured it had to do with him feeling too vulnerable without clothing on, so they never questioned him about it. 

He turned the taps off and left the room.  He passed Fred in the hallway, who gave him a smile before he disappeared into the bathroom as well, and as he made his way to his bedroom, Percy’s door opened and he’d almost walked straight into his older brother.

“Sorry, George.” Percy’s hand shot out to pat his hair comfortingly, and though the younger cringed, he didn’t recoil – a  _ very  _ good sign, Percy knew.  “Have a good time in Diagon Alley.  I’ll see you later.”

George nodded.  He continued the journey to his bedroom, and once he had gotten dressed, he sat on the end of his bed as he waited for Fred.  As usual, it didn’t take long for his twin to come back, and once the older male had gotten dressed as well, he situated himself behind his brother with a towel in one hand and a hair comb in the other.  

“Fred, don’t you ever get tired of babying me…?” Despite his words, George was relaxing into the gentle toweling his hair was receiving to dry it.  “I can do all this myself, you know?”

Fred chuckled.  “I will  _ never  _ get tired of combing your hair for you; you have to look  _ somewhat  _ as good as I do.  Now stay still; I see a big tangle in your hair and it’s gonna hurt to get it out.” 

Fred was always so gentle with him, and George couldn’t help but let his eyes close as he relaxed completely.  He trusted his twin; even their mother had difficulty getting behind him like this, but Fred was different; Fred was…  Well, Fred was  _ Fred _ .  

“Did you wash your hair?” The tone wasn’t disapproving, but George still recognized the hurt in his brother’s tone.  

“Of course, brother.” 

“…” Fred clicked his tongue.  “…Must be that new shampoo mum bought; your hair is still a bit…  Never mind. It’s okay. I’ll tell mum the old shampoo was better for you.”

He didn’t buy it, George knew.  Fred wasn’t stupid; he just didn’t want to upset George with the truth after he’d been doing so well at breakfast.  The conversation would probably come later today, but for now, Fred was dropping it. 

Once George’s hair had been combed and freed of any tangles, Fred wrapped his arms tight around his twin and pulled him onto his lap.  His arms held him tighter as he hid his face against the nape of George’s neck. The room was silent, but they were comfortable; some days they just needed to be able to  _ feel  _ that they still had the other and weren’t imagining things.

The door opened, and Charlie poked his head in.  He was unperturbed about the sight before him; he knew how close they were, after all.  “You guys ready to go?” 

Fred nodded.  “Let us get our cloaks.” He pushed the younger from his lap so he could stand up, and once he was satisfied he and George were ready, he took his twin’s hand and pulled him to Charlie.  

The good thing about Charlie was that he didn’t get snippy if the twins held hands in front of him.  His mother always yelled at Fred about it, saying he was encouraging and enabling George’s anxiety and he’d be better off teaching George how to get by on his own instead of letting him cling from stress, but Charlie was different; unlike their mother,  _ he  _ understood they did it because they  _ both  _ needed to be able to reassure themselves that the other was  _ safe _ .  

“Let’s floo powder there and get all of the small stuff first,” Charlie said.  “Make it easier to carry around instead of trying to lump text books everywhere.”

“Agreed.  Maybe we should have forced Percy to come along and used him as a pack mule.”

Charlie snorted in amusement.  “And you wanted to find your friend while we’re there?”

Fred looked to George.  “If Georgie is still up to it, yeah.”

George nodded.  “I will be.”

“You’d better be, or else Georgie isn’t getting any ice cream,” Fred teased.

Charlie chuckled.  “Come on, guys; let’s get going.” 

With that said, Fred and George never parted hands until they were flooing to Diagon Alley individually.

 

* * *

 

The shopping came and went, and it was nearing afternoon by the time Charlie took his twin brothers to the ice cream parlor to meet their friend.  He’d heard a lot about Lee Jordan over the years, the twins’ best friend and fellow troublemaker. He’d almost expected another terror, just like his brothers, but instead Lee was a laidback, polite young man, and when Charlie personally witnessed the younger treating George so tenderly, yet with so much affection and exactly the same way he interacted with Fred, Charlie’s chest swelled with joy and he liked Lee already; it was so hard to find someone who would treat the damaged twin normally, as if he weren’t some fragile being that would shatter if someone said or did the wrong thing around him.  

No; instead, Lee understood where George’s limits lay, and though he was  _ very  _ noticeably much more careful physically when it came to the younger twin, he otherwise treated George no differently to Fred.  

“…And so we were writing letters all holidays, and Angelina –“ Lee’s eyes widened and he looked to Charlie. “Big brother, you know who Angelina is, yeah?”

“His name is Charlie, you twat.” Fred jokingly punched his friend in the shoulder.

Lee rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.  “Sorry, Charlie. But you know who Ange is, right?”

Charlie nodded.  “Yes; the boys told me a lot about her, as well.” 

“Okay, so anyway, we were writing to each other, and she was telling me about how one of her friends from Hufflepuff has a crush on one of you two, but she doesn’t know how to tell you guys apart.  So she said the quiet one because the loud one is ‘too much ADHD to handle.’ Apparently she wouldn’t believe Ange when Ange tried to tell her George is just as much a prat as Fred is when he’s feeling comfortable enough to be.”

George gave a small smile as Lee clapped him on the forearm; though this was making him uncomfortable, he knew his friend didn’t intend for any harm to be done.  “…”

Lee winked at the youngest ginger.  “What should we say, mate? You have an admirer.  If we tie her hands up for you so she can’t put them all over you, you might like her.” 

George’s smile never faltered; he knew his friend well enough to know he was only teasing, and would have said pretty much the exact same thing to Fred as well if it were Fred that girl had the crush on.  He shook his head, and politely he said, “She sounds nice, but I’m okay, Lee. I’m not sure I like girls anyway.” 

“Ooooh.” Charlie raised his eyebrow at this; this was news to him.  His eyes flickered between Fred and Lee before he said, “Did you guys know about this?” 

“I did.” Fred smirked.  “Not Lee, though. It was meant to be just between us two, but Lee seems to be making it his life’s mission to pair Georgie up with the first girl he can find.” 

Lee clapped his hands together as if he were coming up with a whole new scheme.  “You like other boys, George? Hold tight; I might be able to source one or two out for you.  What’s your type?”

“Anything that you won’t be able to find for me –“

“-Because he knows how bad you are-“

“-At pairing other people up.” The two finished together.

Lee leant in ever closer, as if he wanted to hear more about this new discovery.  Charlie, however, listened closely because, for the first time, he was realizing he wasn’t the only Weasley who felt that way.

“So what made you realise you don’t like girls, George?  Are you interested in dating another guy, or still need more time?”

“Well…” Surprisingly, the questions weren’t difficult for George to be asked – possibly because they were coming from someone he was comfortable enough with to almost think of as a cousin.  “There’s someone I like… But I don’t want to date anyone just yet because it’s… It’s still not easy for me…” 

“Who do you like, George?” Lee looked so excited, Charlie could see how big a deal this was for him; it was almost as if Christmas had come early for him to hear that his friend was making progress.  “Do we know him?”

A deep blush crossed George’s face.  He looked away. “You do… But I’m not telling who.”

At Lee’s sound of disappointment, Fred slung his arm over his twin’s shoulders and hugged him close.  “It’s no use, Lee; he won’t tell me who, either.” 

Lee grinned.  “Half the fun is figuring it out on our own, George.  More ice cream, Fred?” 

A matching grin crossed Fred’s face.  “Yup!” 

It was when the two got up to go back to the counter did Charlie put his hand on his brother’s arm and smile.  “So. Who  _ do  _ you like, George?”

George’s flush darkened even more.  “…”

“You can tell me.  I like guys, too.” 

It was the sincerity in Charlie’s voice that made George feel comfortable enough to divulge such crucial information.  He licked his lips and looked away. “…I… I like –“

“-Georgie, do you want chocolate ice cream again or a different flavour?” 

It was Fred’s shout from across the store that made George jump and lose his nerve.  He licked his lips again before he called back, “Strawberry!”

Charlie’s smile widened.  He reached out to squeeze his brother’s hand.  “You don’t have to tell me, George. Maybe one day I’ll tell you who  _ I  _ like instead.” 

George felt his heavy baggage lighten on his shoulders; if he’d known Charlie liked other males, too, he’d have spoken to his older brother sooner about it.  

When the other two returned to the table, it was with Lee dancing with joy as he chanted, “George has a crush~  George has a crush~”. George couldn’t find it in him to be bothered; instead, he felt rather comfortable with his friend taking it so well.  

“So, tell me more.” Lee took a serious lick at his ice cream, never breaking eye contact with the younger twin, before he continued.  “You have a crush. But you’re still terribly afraid of people. What makes them make  _ you  _ feel comfortable enough to crush on him?”

George shrugged.  “I just… do. I… I trust him.”

“But you wouldn’t have sex with him?” Lee cocked his head to the side.  “Would you  _ ever  _ be able to have sex with someone you like?” 

“Don’t know…” George shuddered.  “I don’t… I don’t  _ think  _ about that stuff…  I don’t know… I hate sex…” 

Charlie put his hand on George’s shoulder again and squeezed reassuringly.  “It’s okay, George. You do what you’re comfortable with.” 

The younger gave a weak smile.  “Thanks, Charlie.” 

The group fell silent once more as they all focused on their ice creams.  It was once they’d finished them and Lee looked down at his wristwatch did he stand and wipe imaginary dirt from his clothing. “It was great to see you guys again, but I’d better get home before mother skins me alive for being so late.  Charlie, it was good to meet you.” 

“You don’t want to owl your mum and see if you can come back with us for a bit?” Fred gestured to his brothers.  “We were going to play Quidditch, and without Percy it’d be an uneven team so someone would have to sit out and referee.” 

“Nah, my mum wouldn’t let me, Fred; I promised I’d help her with something.  She wouldn’t mind if you were guests though.”

Fred’s face lit up like a Christmas tree.  He glanced to George. “You wanna hang out with Lee some more, Georgie?” 

George frowned.  He raised his suddenly-trembling hands and fumbled with them.  For the third time in ten minutes, he licked at his lips. “…”

It wasn’t just George who was hurting right now; Charlie could see it on Fred’s face, too.  Fred was torn between wanting to spend time with his friend, but also wanting to do the best thing for George – which they all knew was to stick by his side and not force him into difficult decisions like this.  

“Whatever you decide, George, you’ll have Fred or myself,” Charlie promised.  “We’ll play Quidditch, and then I’m sure we can find something we can do together.  If Fred isn’t back tonight, I’ll even sleep in your room with you so you aren’t alone.” 

George looked as if he had aged fifty years in as many seconds.  He looked exhausted, tired of life. He knew, as hard as it was to part with for Fred, the best choice for him was to go back home where he had his safe spaces and comfort items, and his family if needed.  He nodded, and he looked back to Fred and Lee before he mumbled, “I’m gonna stay with Charlie…” 

It was as painful for Fred as it was for George.  George needed his brother’s soothing presence to keep his trauma in check, but without George by his side, all Fred could remember was the agony of thinking his brother was dead.  He needed George there to touch, to hold – to remember he was still alive and he hadn’t lost the younger; they had  _ both  _ been scarred, and Fred would never forget his twin’s lifeless body laying on that floor.

“Alright, Georgie…” Fred’s voice was choked.  It was probably for the better; sooner or later they’d both need to learn how to have time apart – but it was something  _ neither  _ of them wanted.  He closed the distance between them so he could embrace his twin tightly and kiss his forehead.  “I’ll try and be home soon. Owl me if you need me, okay? I’ll send you a letter with Lee’s owl when we get there because Errol will be too slow otherwise.” 

George nodded.  He watched Fred and Lee disappear from view before he turned back to face Charlie.  His entire body was trembling now, and Charlie knew from experience it wouldn’t be long until his little brother was in tears; Fred was his safety net, and the only thing that could keep him stable – without Fred, George fell apart instantly.  

“Come on, George.” Charlie took the younger’s hand.  “Let’s go play Quidditch and take your mind off things.” 

Sleep wasn’t going to be easy for George that night – not when Fred was still at Lee’s home and didn’t show any sign of being back before morning.  He was relieved Charlie had no qualms about sleeping in Fred’s bed instead for the night; he needed the other’s presence or else he knew he’d be an absolute mess right now.  

The light was still on as George lay in his bed, tucked tightly beneath his blankets by his loving brother and watching said brother getting dressed for bed.  “Charlie…?”

“Yes, George?” 

“You’ll stay with me all night, won’t you?” George pulled the blankets to his chin, looking so much like a frightened child, it broke his brother’s heart.

“Of course, George.  I won’t leave you.” Having pulled his nightshirt over his body, Charlie made his way to the younger’s bed.  He leant down to grab George’s shoulders and place a goodnight kiss on the other’s forehead, and with that, he went to Fred’s bed.  “Goodnight, George. I love you.” 

“I love you, too, Charlie…”

Though Charlie was out like a light, George couldn’t fall asleep. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d tried sleeping without Fred with him, and he was finding it to be too much for him.  He couldn’t stop the memories, and once he started sobbing to himself, he hid under his blanket to try and stifle them from Charlie. It wasn’t enough, though; quickly, his blankets were pulled from over his head and Charlie was looking down at him with concern on his face illuminated by the moon’s rays.  

“George?” 

No words needed to be spoken; when George hid his face against his brother’s chest, Charlie curled his strong arms around the twin and held him tight.

“Shh…” His fingers threaded through the younger’s hair gently.  “Shh… Move over, George; I’ll sleep with you tonight.” 

George didn’t complain; he continued to cling to his brother as the other laid down in the bed next to him, curled protectively around his body shaking with sobs, and for once, this was something that wasn’t causing him massive amounts of emotional agony – instead, it was what he had needed for so long but couldn’t allow himself to be given, not even by Fred who had  _ tried  _ so hard to get his twin comfortable with sharing a bed for nights like these but had only ever been met with panic and resistance.  

“Shh…” Charlie pressed his nose into his brother’s hair and squeezed him.  “Try and sleep, George; I’m here… Shh…”

“F-fred…” George’s tears came harder.  “F-fred… What if… W-what if… something h-happened to F-f-fred…?”

“Nothing will happen to Fred,” the older male promised gently.  “Fred is  _ fine _ .  Close your eyes, George.  Try and sleep.”

George was exhausted, and Charlie knew that.  He kept soothing the younger until finally, after what could have been hours, George was asleep, albeit restlessly, in his arms.

He would have loved to sleep as well, but he couldn’t; not while George needed him.  He was prepared to stay awake all night if he had to – and it turned out, that was exactly what he did.  


	3. Chapter 3

Charlie’s fingers continued dragging through George’s hair early that morning.  It was barely sun rise, and as tired as he was, he couldn't fall asleep; not while he had something  _ very  _ uncomfortable pressing against his stomach.  He thought about waking George up, or leaving the bed and going for a good walk in the crisp morning air so George wouldn’t have to wake in embarrassment, but nothing he considered doing felt right to him; he had promised his brother he wasn’t going to leave him alone, and he intended on sticking to his word.  

However, George awoke with a start when Charlie’s warm body heat left him, and with a whimper, he reached out to grab the back of the older male’s shirt and stop him from leaving.  “C-charlie!” 

“It’s alright,” Charlie promised.  “I was just reaching for my wand; don’t panic.  Go back to sleep if you want.” 

George shook his head.  His body started shaking again, and his cheeks quickly became wet with tears as he pulled his hands away to press down on his crotch as a look of panic crossed his face.  His breathing was becoming so erratic, Charlie was sure he was on the verge of hyperventilating. “George? What’s upsetting you?”

Again, the younger shook his head, and his tears came harder.  He pushed his brother away roughly before he pulled his knees to his chest and turned to face the wall, his back to Charlie.  He rocked slightly. “No, no, no; I don’t want to… Please, I don’t  _ want  _ to…  Please…  D-don’t m-make me…”

Charlie raised his hand to his mouth so he could chew at his fingernails; he’d never seen George like this before, and it was scaring him; was this what Fred woke up to every morning?  He really hoped not; he could only imagine the damage this would do to Fred’s mind over an extended period of time… The poor thing would probably grow up and think  _ he  _ was a rapist purely because he was being seen as one…  

“Mum?  Dad?” No one answered his calls.  “Bill?!” 

He had no idea if anyone else was still home with them.  Maybe Ginny and Ron were, but the last thing he wanted was to let them inside the room while George was acting like this; they didn’t need to see their brother’s meltdown…  

He chewed at his fingers even more as he tried to formulate a solution.  Tears welled up in his eyes; as hard as he was trying, he had no idea what he was supposed to do; George was still whimpering, his rocking growing worse by the second, and all Charlie wanted to do was stop that.  

“George, you can’t –“ Charlie should have known that grabbing the younger was the worst thing he could have done because suddenly, he had been deafened by the loudest scream he’d ever heard, and George threw himself away from the touch so desperately, he’d hit the wall with a giant thump that left blood from his split forehead on the wallpaper.   _ “George, no!” _

It was the most damaging thing Charlie had seen in eleven years, watching the way George slammed his head into the wall – leaving more and more blood behind each time – as his sharp fingernails clawed the flesh of his arms and wrists open until his mattress started to look like a murder scene.  

Charlie felt as if he’d been hit with an Immobulus charm.  He couldn’t move, nor could he say anything; all he could do was watch with wide eyes as his little brother left blood everywhere.  He’d never seen George like this before – he’d always known the younger was in a bad way, but  _ never  _ had he been told anything like this had happened.  He was fearful; did this happen every morning or only sometimes?  Were there triggers for it like there had been today? Did Fred have to deal with this all alone, or would the rest of the family help him?  

“George…” He’d never spoken so pathetically before.  “…George, please…” 

It was when George had grabbed his wand from the bedside table did Charlie finally spring back into action; with the state his brother was in, he’d probably destroy everything in a five-hundred-mile radius by accident.  He leapt onto the bed and, as agonizing as it was to have George scream and thrash beneath him in terror, he wrestled the wand from George’s grip and then took both of his wrists in one hand to use the other to caress dirty ginger hair as he tried so hard to calm the younger.  

“Shh…” Charlie knew it could be useless, or he could be here all day trying to calm his brother down, but he couldn’t leave George like this; he  _ couldn’t _ .  “Shh…  I’m here, George. I’m here.  It’s just me. Shh…” 

It wasn’t working.  George kept thrashing, and he only seemed to become more panicked.  But what else was he supposed to do? Let George keep hurting himself?  

“Georgie!” 

Charlie let out a sigh of relief at Fred’s voice; if anyone would know what to do, it would be Fred.  “Fred, I don’t… He just flipped out as soon as he woke up…!”

The older twin’s expression was grim, but he remained calm as he nodded to Charlie.  His eyes stayed focused on the youngest. “Georgie… Georgie, sweetheart, it’s Fred.  You’re safe. You’re safe, Georgie; you’re not with  _ him _ .” 

Charlie watched as Fred’s hands closed around one of George’s bloodied own.  He counted the six-and-a-half minutes of talking until George’s eyes finally opened again and he peered frightenedly at Fred.  His voice trembled as he pointed to Charlie and whispered, “H-he… He did something to me, Freddie… W-while I was sleeping…” 

Charlie  _ hated  _ the look on Fred’s face.  He looked stoic, as if he were battling to keep his emotions locked away.  But his eyes gave away the pain and suffering. Fred had heard these words  _ many  _ times – most likely directed at  _ him  _ as they slept in the same room and would be the first person George’s broken mind thought to accuse.  

When the older twin spoke again, it was in a voice cracking with the effort of speaking normally.  “That’s Charlie, Georgie. Not the man. I promise.” 

George whimpered.  He pulled away to pull the blankets over his head and begin to rock again.  “F-f-freddie…! I-I want m-mummy…!”

“He’s regressing…” Charlie wiped at his wet eyes.  “He thinks he’s five again…” 

Fred nodded stiffly.  “He does this… so much…  It’s  _ exhausting,  _ Charlie…  I don’t know how much longer I can keep doing this for him…” 

“You’ve been doing this for eleven years, Fred; it’s amazing you still have the energy left for him the way you do…” It was remarkable to realise that if this was the kind of thing his family had to deal with, they loved George  _ so  _ much to have not resorted to having him admitted to St. Mungo’s for special care – no  _ wonder  _ they’d never told Bill or Charlie about these episodes because they knew the two oldest brothers would only fret more than they already did if they knew.  

“He’s my brother…  I love him…” Fred’s own eyes filled with tears.  “But when he’s like this… It’s gonna take a long time for him to come back to us…  I’ll stay with him, Charlie; he’ll come out on his own soon…”

“I don’t know what happened, Fred; I…” As he had earlier, Charlie chewed at his fingernails.  “One minute he was fine, and then the next…”

“He thinks you molested him while he was sleeping…” Fred’s tone had turned dark, and his eyes narrowed at the wall behind his twin’s rocking form.  “I know… He does the same thing to me whenever he wakes up hard… Because he doesn’t masturbate or get turned on… He thinks the only way possible he could have gotten hard is if someone _ made  _ him like it while he slept…” 

“But no one would have; it’s  _ normal  _ for him to wake up like that…” It was so cruel; look at the damage done to his poor little brother’s head…  “It happens to most males…! It’s  _ natural! _ ” 

“He doesn’t acknowledge that…  He thinks only… Only  _ sex  _ causes it.”

“Fred…” 

And then, the first tear rolled down Fred’s cheek.  “Am I a rapist, Charlie…? Am I molesting him in my sleep or something…?  I  _ swear  _ I’ve never touched him, but…  He tells me I have so much, I…  I don’t know anymore… Am I going crazy…?”

“You’re  _ not  _ going crazy,” Charlie promised.  “ _ Both  _ of you have been damaged.  George is scared; he knows no better.  He doesn’t even  _ recognise  _ you when he accuses you of…  He thinks you’re that man…” 

Fred wiped at his eyes with his sleeve.  “Can I be alone with Georgie, please, Charlie…?  For a little while…?” 

Fred wanted to cry, Charlie knew.  He wanted to cry, but he didn’t want to do it in front of his big brother.  Did he feel ashamed his emotions had been worn down over the years? Probably; Fred  _ was  _ incredibly prideful and didn’t like to be seen without anything but a smile on his face.  Charlie sighed. “Fred… How many times have I told  _ all  _ of you?  If you need to cry, then  _ cry _ .  Don’t hide it.” 

“Please…?” More tears followed the first, and he raised his hands to claw at his face.  “Just… Just leave me alone for a bit, Char… Really…” 

His frown grew, and he gave a reluctant nod; Fred just needed time alone, and there was nothing wrong with that.  “I’ll be here if you need me, Fred. Just yell out.” 

Fred nodded as he wiped at his face.  “Thanks…” 

Charlie nodded before he left the room to go downstairs and sit the dining room table.  There was a lot on his mind, like why his parents had to disappear today of all mornings, and if his brothers would ever be okay again.  But no matter how hard he tried to stay positive about the twins’ futures, he doubted he’d ever see much of a recovery for George. 

 

* * *

 

“Have the twins come out of their room yet?” 

It was past lunch, and Bill looked up from where he’d been looking over Molly’s shopping list to see what he could grab for her while he’d be in Diagon Alley.  He frowned at the worried look on Charlie’s face. “Not yet. Fred’s in there with him, Charlie; George will be fine.” 

“It’s not George I’m worried about today…” Charlie sighed, and he went into the explanation of everything that had happened that morning.  At his brother’s horrified face, he finished with, “And so I’m worried George may not be the only one we need to put on suicide watch, Bill…  If you’d seen his face this morning, you’d understand…” 

Bill nodded in agreement.  “It wasn’t just George’s mind it messed up…  The three of them were so young… Percy’s bounced back from it pretty okay but I know he still can’t shake it from his mind.  And Fred… Poor Fred… I’ve never seen him cry like that…” 

“He thought George had died…  Where were we even supposed to  _ tell  _ him, Bill…?” Charlie felt his skin crawl.  “What did we  _ say  _ to him…?” 

Bill swallowed past the lump in his throat.  “…We told him a Death Eater tried to murder George…”

Charlie winced.  “We messed them all up so badly…”

“Try not to dwell on it; it’ll only make you more upset.” Bill patted the seat next to him.  “Sit with me, Charlie. Do you want to help me help mum with the shopping today?” 

“It’s okay, Bill; I’ll wait for the twins to come out of their room.” With that, the dining room fell into a comfortable silence.   

George needed some serious help, Charlie knew.  Maybe he  _ did  _ need St. Mungo’s, but he’d hate to see his brother ever end up there.  It wasn’t that his family  _ didn’t care _ , or that they weren’t looking after him properly, because they were doing an  _ amazing  _ job with him – the only problem was, despite having so many people under the same roof, no one seemed to be giving George the time he needed, and leaving Fred to take almost complete care of him.  

“It shouldn’t be up to  _ just  _ Fred to look after him,” Charlie said out loud.  “Fred can’t do it on his own, and  _ Fred  _ needs to be looked after as well.  He’s going to need his own time to himself; he can’t be expected to shoulder George as well as himself constantly.” 

“What are you thinking, Char?” Bill leant closer.  

“That I might bring the twins back to Romania with me until school starts back.  No one’s spending the time with them that they need, and if they come back with me, they’ll have peace and a safe place they can rest and do their own thing.  I can keep George busy by having him help me with the dragons, and Fred can have time to himself for once.” 

“That’s a good idea, actually,” Bill agreed.  “Think mum would go for it? You know how she gets when it comes to letting George out of the house…” 

“She will be fine with it as long as she knows he’s going to be with me.  Speaking of mum, where are mum and dad?”

“They came back an hour ago.  If I were you, I’d go ask mum now while she’s still in a good mood because when she came back…  I only looked at her and I thought she was going to rip my head off my shoulders.” 

Charlie chuckled; he knew their mother’s temper so well.  “Thanks, Bill. I’ll tell you how it goes.” 

It didn’t take long to find Molly in their bedroom, knitting what looked to be socks – probably new ones for Ginny, he imagined, with them being pink and all.  He knocked on the door to announce his presence, and thankfully, he was greeted by a strained smile – still better than her glare any day. 

“Mum, do you think it would be alright if I bring the twins back to Romania with me?” 

Molly frowned.  “Don’t you think the journey will be a bit much for him, Charlie…?” 

“He was just fine when we went to Egypt,” he pointed out.  “It’ll be fine, mum; I can pack all their things for them and I’ll Apparate them directly to my place –“

“-And you’ll make  _ sure  _ that George –“

“-Doesn’t go out on his own or locks himself in a room without Fred or I, and he  _ definitely  _ won’t be left alone.  I know, mum. Really.” He smiled.  “Please? He really needs this… They  _ both  _ do…  I’ll look after them, mum.  Trust me on this, okay? I’m…  I’m really worried about them… About  _ both  _ of them…” 

Molly didn’t want to say yes, but how could she refuse?  Her twin sons needed help, and as hard as she tried, she couldn’t be the one to give it to them.  “Charlie… You  _ know  _ what the doctors said…”

“They said that  _ eleven years ago,  _ Mother,” Charlie gently pointed out.  “He isn’t a little kid anymore, and change will probably be good for him – at the very least, he needs to learn how to cope outside of his comfort zone.  Fred will be with him, and so will I, so don’t worry so much, mum. Bill and I raised them; we know how to look after them.” 

Finally, Molly nodded, but it wasn’t happily.  “You’ll owl me every night, won’t you, Charlie…?  If it gets too hard for you, I want you to bring them both straight home…” 

It bothered Charlie that his mother didn’t see George as the strong person he was and instead treated him as an irreparable piece of chinaware that had been dropped onto the ground.  No; George was, by no means, a mentally or emotionally healthy teenager, but he wasn’t the weak,  _ broken  _ thing like everyone seemed to treat him as.  George was strong – stronger than he himself realised.  He didn’t spend all of his time crying, or trying to kill himself, or flinching away from everyone in panic attacks.  

George still smiled.  He still laughed. He still  _ lived _ .  He just…  Some days were easier for him than others, and he needed a helping hand at times – there was nothing wrong with that!  Some day he hoped Molly would stop treating him as if he were emotionally liable to kill himself on the spot if someone looked at him the wrong way and instead would come to acknowledge and be  _ proud  _ of how far George had come along through his trauma. 

But that wouldn’t be any time soon, he knew; not when Molly continued to insist that George was still that five-year-old boy too terrified to leave his bed for  _ anything _ .  


	4. Chapter 4

Compared to the Burrow, Charlie’s home was tiny – though that was probably to be expected since his home only needed to house one person comfortably instead of nine.  There was a second floor, where the one bedroom and a bathroom was located, and though the kitchen and dining room were only small, the living room more than made up for it with being large enough to take up most of the ground floor.  

It was this fact that made Fred turn to look at his older brother and ask, “Where will George and I sleep?” 

“Well, my bed is big enough for you both to sleep comfortably in it without having to get too close, and I can sleep on the couch.” Charlie gestured to the big black couch behind the twins.  “It’s pretty comfortable. I don’t mind.” 

Fred shook his head.  “Don’t be stupid, Charlie; we’re the guests here.  You and George can have the bed and I’ll sleep down here.” 

“You’re too kind, but really; it’s okay, because if something happens with a dragon through the night, I don’t want to be waking you guys up with having to rush out.” 

Fred nodded in understanding.  “That makes sense. Well. We’re here now.  Georgie, how are you feeling?” 

George nodded.  His face was still red from how much he’d been crying earlier, but he otherwise looked fine at the moment; he was just reserved.  From where his hand was clasped tightly in Fred’s, he felt it being squeezed tightly, and he moved closer to his twin. “…” 

“You guys haven’t eaten anything yet, have you?” Charlie threaded his fingers through his hair.  “There’s a really nice imitation Muggle restaurant not far from here if you boys want to eat out.  If not, I’m sure I could make something for you both.” 

Fred needed only glance at his twin’s face before he said, “We’ll eat here, Charlie.  …Unless you can bring some back for us? We’ve always wanted to try… What is it called, Georgie?”

George cocked his head to the side.  “Pizza? I think that’s what dad said.” 

Fred nodded.  He turned his attention back to Charlie.  “Do they have pizza?” 

“They do, but there’s lots of different types of pizza.” Charlie rubbed his chin thoughtfully.  “I’m sure I can find one you guys will like. Sit tight, okay? I won’t be long.” 

Now that the twins were alone, they looked around at their surroundings.  There wasn’t much that Charlie owned in the way of personal items except for several framed photographs of his family and books and magazines of magical creatures – dragons in particular, which wasn’t surprising.  

“How have we never been here before?” Fred took George’s hand again to lead him through the rest of the house.  “Maybe we should visit more often; I like this house.” 

George nodded.  He squeezed his brother’s hand nervously, but he still dragged his feet up the stairs and into what was Charlie’s bedroom.  

It was big, compared to what the rest of the Weasleys were used to living in.  His bed was in the middle of the room, king-sized and fascinating to the twins.  They moved to the mattress and clambered on top, bouncing slightly. 

“This is comfortable.” Fred let out a pleased sigh as he lay back into the blankets.  “It’s so much softer than our beds. Wish mum could have got us something like this.” 

George followed his brother’s lead and lay down as well so he could snuggle in closer and press his nose against the older male’s throat.  Though his arms still held himself tightly, Fred knew he was comfortable with this. 

They laid in silence for several moments until Fred sat up with a cheeky grin on his face.  “Georgie, I wonder what secrets Charlie hides in his bedroom…” 

George sat up as well.  He watched his brother get off the bed and move to the wardrobe to sift through the clothing.  There was nothing much except for some spare dragon keeper suits and shoes, but still Fred said, “I’m sure we can find something to hide in here for Charlie.” 

While his brother continued rifling through the wardrobe for anything he may have missed, George leant across to open the bedside drawers.  Fred had turned his attention to this now, pleased to see his little brother quickly getting back to normal. 

The items the younger twin were pulling out of the drawer were pretty normal.  Quills, parchment, empty notebooks they’d have to remember to check for invisible ink in case Charlie was writing his secrets in them…  

It was the small bottle of lube that George had picked up next that made Fred flinch and inhale sharply; oh,  _ please  _ no; not another mental breakdown today…  

“Huh.  Fred, he doesn’t have much.  All that’s left is dragon magazines.” 

Inwardly, Fred gave a sigh of relief; George didn’t know what lube was used for.  “Yeah… Want to go back downstairs and wait for Charlie? Put everything back first.  I’m going to use the toilet and then I’ll be down.” 

George nodded.  He put everything back where he’d found it and then left the bed to go back down to the living room.  He sat on the couch as he waited for Fred to re-join him, entertaining himself with one of the dragon magazines.   

He could understand why Charlie loved dragons so much; they were beautiful creatures – deadly, yet beautiful.  He hoped his brother would let him see some of the ones they had here, but before he could think too much on it, Fred had come downstairs.  

“Charlie should be back any minute now, George.  What have you got?” 

“Just a magazine.” George raised it into the air so his brother could see.  The older male sat next to him and took it for himself to flick through, but George didn’t mind; he dropped his chin onto his twin’s shoulder and read along as well.

It didn’t take much longer for Charlie to come back with several pizza boxes in his arms, and once he had grabbed a few plates and put several slices onto each, he sat back on the couch with George next to him.  “I got all different kinds for you two to try. I figured we can save some for snacking as well.” 

George nodded.  He took a bite out of the first one, enjoying the taste of it despite not knowing what was on it, and then he asked, “When can we see the baby dragons, Charlie?” 

Charlie was just glad that his brother was doing far better than he had this morning; getting him out of his bedroom for once had probably done wonders for him already.  He smiled, and he reached out to thread his fingers through the younger twin’s hair on the nape of his neck. “We can go see them whenever you want; I have my own nursery for them just out back – where I have all the babies too young to be put with the others.  Usually I spend most of the days and nights hand-rearing them, but because I took leave, someone else has been coming to do it for me.” 

Fred nudged his twin’s side and smiled.  “Let’s go and see them after we’ve eaten.” 

George smiled back and nodded as he fell into conversation with the older male.  Charlie watched them carefully as he ate his own pizza; though George was doing  _ much  _ better than he had been this morning, his eyes still held that pained look to them.  

He observed the way George would fiddle with his sleeves, tugging them as far as possible over his hands – most likely to hide all the scars from any prying eyes.  His left leg shook while he used his right foot to tap the ground. But his smiles were still genuine, and Charlie would have loved to run his thumb over those soft lips and caress them as he leant in close to –

No!  What was he _ thinking?!   _ George was a  _ rape  _ victim, and his  _ brother!   _ It wasn’t the first time these kinds of thoughts had crossed his mind about George, but they seemed to be becoming much more frequent these days.  

But seriously…  George could do with someone who’d love him and treat him right, even if they  _ did  _ happen to be related somehow…  He needed patience and understanding, and Charlie could give him that – probably better than anyone else could, too.

But…  This was  _ George  _ they were talking about…  

“Charlie?” 

Charlie blinked at Fred’s voice.  “Yeah?”

“You look troubled.”   Fred leant across George’s lap to touch the older male’s elbow.  “You okay?” 

Charlie nodded.  “Of course. I was just thinking.  Let me know when you two want to go out back.” 

The twins carried on with their conversation.  Charlie’s eyes wandered over George’s face. He frowned at the bruising and split skin developing on the right side of his forehead, cheek and around his eye from where he had been slamming his face against the wall.  He reached out ever so slowly until George was  _ cringing  _ as if he were about to be punched repeatedly in the face and he  _ knew  _ it.  

“George.” Charlie’s voice was low.  He watched as his brother gulped heavily before he whispered something he couldn’t catch. His fingertips were ghosting against the swelling flesh of George’s cheek.  “I have some salve that’ll help with all this. May I put it on your face?” 

It took several seconds, but finally George nodded.  There was an Accio, the popping of a cap, and finally, a whimper from George even  _ he  _ didn’t know if was from pain or fear.  Fred sat even closer to him, so close their bodies were pressed firmly together as he held tightly his twin’s hand and whispered soothing words.  

It was horrible to have to watch his own brother cringing so violently at something so simple, but Charlie didn’t let it get to him; George was  _ actually allowing  _ him to touch his face like this – something even  _ Molly  _ had struggled to do whenever her son needed his wounds tended to.  Charlie knew Fred was the only one who could put his hands all over the younger twin without resistance, but the dragon keeper had to be coming in at a close second today as he remembered watching George scream and thrash and  _ cry  _ not long ago when Bill tried to inspect his mouth after George had bitten his tongue hard enough to flood his mouth with blood.  

Finally, their pizza forgotten, Charlie pulled his hand away from George’s face and smiled.  “There. Does that feel better, George?” 

George nodded.  He turned his face to hide against his twin’s shoulder.  Fred wrapped his arm around the youngest and held him securely, squeezing his hand as he said, “Let’s go see the baby dragons.  We can finish our pizza shortly.” 

“Good idea.” Charlie stood up.  “Come on, George. You ready? I have some Irish Spike Noses.  They’re pretty passive dragons, and as babies, they don’t breathe fire.  You can hold one if you want.” 

Finally, George’s eyes lit up with glee.  He smiled brightly. “Okay.” 

Charlie let out a breath of relief; hopefully he’d be able to do something for George now that he had the means to help his little brother.

 

* * *

 

The day had been relatively easy after George had been shown the baby dragons.  He’d picked out his favourite; a stunning, pale blue dragon so young, its horns were still tiny nubs in its scaly body, all the way from its nose to the tip of its tail, and on the outer sections of its wings, neck and legs.  It was the cutest thing Charlie had ever seen; his baby brother keeping the dragon he’d affectionately named Skye wrapped up in his jumper as he carried it everywhere with him, not wanting to part it with it.

Just like tonight, as Charlie stood in his own bedroom, tucking the twins in tight beneath his blankets with the dragon asleep in George’s arms, its sharp claws covered by thick socks on each of its feet so it couldn’t scratch anything by accident.  

“You guys gonna be okay in here?” His long, calloused fingers threaded through Fred’s hair as his eyes flickered between the two.  “I’m going to be right downstairs. Wake me up if you need anything.” 

Fred nodded.  He turned his head to look at his twin, and he almost could have been surprised that the younger was so close to him for once, but he understood; in a completely new setting, George was going to be nervous.  “Georgie, are you okay?” 

George frowned.  He hugged Skye tighter as he rolled onto his side to press against Fred.  “M’fine…”

“You’ll be okay,” Charlie promised.  “You’re safe here. Try and get some sleep.  Goodnight. I love you both.” 

“We love you, too, Charlie,” Fred replied.  He also rolled onto his side so he could put his arm around his twin and hold him close, careful of the dragon between them.  “Goodnight, Georgie.” 

Charlie heard the twins whispering to each other as he turned the light off and left the room.  That was okay; they’d always talked to each other before they fell asleep, and he had no intentions of changing  _ anything  _ between them.  

As he made his way downstairs to the couch, Charlie allowed his thoughts to run rampart.  He knew he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t help himself; George was just so damn cute. He laid down on the couch and dragged his heavy blankets over him as he closed his eyes and sighed happily, feeling his pyjama pants tightening a little.  

He knew how wrong of him it was to think thoughts like these, but as he slipped his hand past the hem of his pants, he thought back to his long-standing bet with Bill and if the twins would ever grope each other in the future.  Fred was straight, so he didn’t know if the older twin would ever be the one to initiate things if it were to happen – but at the same time, Fred loved George so very much, it was hard to imagine him turning something like that down if it were for the wellbeing of George’s mental health.  

He licked his lips as he pictured it in his mind; George on his back, with his arms wrapped tightly around Fred who rocked their hips slowly throughout their passionate kissing.  They’d moan together, and if George was feeling particularly anxious about being intimate with his brother, then Fred just had to lower his hands and gently rub the younger into hardness and – 

Charlie’s hand stopped moving altogether.  Why was he thinking such terrible thoughts about George?  Fred wasn’t so much a problem as he wasn’t an abuse victim – but  _ George…   _ He sighed, and he pulled his hand from his pants.  

Was it because he knew George was gay now?  He’d had thoughts like these before, but they had been rather rare and his interest had normally laid in other men.  But now, he couldn’t seem to switch off from George, as much as he knew he should. 

“Sorry, George…”  He rolled onto his side to face the back of the couch and forced his eyes shut, ignoring the hardness between his hips.  “Sorry…” 

With that, he fell into a peaceful slumber.   


	5. Chapter 5

Morning came around, and Charlie had been woken bright and early by the younger twin tugging incessantly at his night shirt.  He lifted his head from his pillow and blinked wearily at his brother. “George…? Are you okay…?” 

George nodded.  Skye was still in his arms, the dragon chewing at a teddy bear Charlie had told the twins to give it before going to sleep so it didn’t decide to gnaw on them instead.  “I think Skye’s hungry, Charlie… She woke me up…”

Charlie blinked again.  He grabbed his wand from under his pillow and illuminated it so he could check his wristwatch.  It was four-thirty, much too early for poor George to be waking up. “I’ll feed her for you, Georgie.  Go get some more sleep; I’ll bring her straight back once she’s fed.” 

“Can I feed her, Charlie?  Please?” The younger sat on the couch next to his brother’s legs.  

“You don’t want to go back to sleep?” When his brother shook his head, Charlie could only smile.  “Alright. I’ll go get her food from the back. Stay here under the blankets where it’s warm.”

It didn’t take long for Charlie to come back with some frozen rats and a bottle of cloudy red liquid with a teat that looked  _ very  _ worn from such sharp teeth and most likely had some sort of charm to keep them from tearing easily.  

He showed his little brother how to nurse the dragon, and then how to feed it the rats straight after.  He watched with careful eyes as George did his best to look after the dragon, and finally, once Skye had drank her formula and eaten her rats, his chest puffed with pride as he put his hand on George’s shoulder and squeezed.  “You’re a natural, George. You could stay here with me and become a dragon keeper, too, if you wanted.” 

Through the dim light of their wands, George gave a small smile.  “Thanks, Charlie… But Fred and I want to open a joke shop one day.  We’ve been talking about it for a long time now…” 

“Oh?” Charlie grinned.  He wrapped his arm around his brother’s shoulders and hugged him close.  “That’s awesome, George. I’ll be a regular customer.” 

The younger grinned.  He opened his blanket wide to invite his brother under them.  “Can I sleep on the couch with you, Charlie? Fred was having nightmares when I woke up…” 

“Of course you can, but it’s gonna be a tight squeeze.” Charlie lifted the blankets higher so he could swing his legs up onto the couch.  “Are you okay with that?” 

George nodded.  “I’ll be okay, Charlie…  As long as it’s you…” 

If they’d turned the living room lights on earlier, Charlie might have noticed the flush that crossed George’s cheeks now, but instead, he just smiled and patted the empty spot next to his chest.  “Lay down, George. Lay down.”

George did as he was told.  He lay on his side with his face pressed against his brother’s throat and Skye between their bodies, and though he was almost hanging off the edge of the couch, he was secured by Charlie’s strong arms curled around him, holding him tight.  

“I love you, George,” Charlie whispered.  “Have a good sleep. I’ll wake you in the morning.”  

But no matter how much he had intended on keeping his promise, he found he had no need to do so as when he had awoken at six-thirty, he found George was still awake anyway, humming to himself as he dragged his fingers along the nubs of the dragon’s backs that would eventually grow to be dangerous spikes.  

“You didn’t get any sleep?” Charlie reached his hand out to close over the smaller one beside him.  He frowned when the younger shook his head. He sighed, but he wasn’t going to press the issue; it was already a well-known fact his brother sometimes suffered terrible insomnia.  He changed the subject. “You really like that dragon, don’t you?”

George gave a wistful sigh.  “I wish I could keep her… Will she grow up to be dangerous?”

“No; Spike Noses aren’t very interested in humans.  There are so many spikes all over their bodies, they don’t need to be aggressive – they don’t even breathe fire unless they’re being threatened.  You  _ could  _ keep her as a pet, but…  We both know what mum and dad will say about  _ that _ .  Not to mention if the Ministry ever found out…”

George’s smile dropped, and he hugged Skye closer to him.  “I really want her, Charlie…”

“I tell you what…” Charlie leant in close, “…leave it to me.  I’ll work something out for you.” 

George grinned back.  “Thank you so much, Charlie!” 

The older male was taken by surprise when his brother’s thin arms shot out and wrapped around his neck in a joyful hug – perhaps the happiest he had been in a  _ long  _ time.  He returned the embrace.  “Not a problem at all, George.  Are you hungry? Let’s go make breakfast.  Fred should wake up soon.” 

As predicted, the two had made breakfast and just started eating it when Fred entered the dining room, his hair tousled and rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he yawned.  

“Finally, you’re awake.” Charlie nudged the third plate that was sitting opposite to theirs on the tiny circular table.  “Sleep well?” 

Fred hummed.  “Not sure… Nightmares…” 

“Yes, we all have enough of those, don’t we?” Charlie waited until Fred was sitting with them before he reached across to pat his brother’s hand.  “Don’t let them get you down.” 

“You have nightmares, too, Charlie?” A look of relief crossed George’s face, as if he was just glad to know that the twins weren’t the only ones. 

“Of course.”  Charlie dropped his voice now.  “It was… It was  _ my  _ fault, after all…” 

George shook his head.  “I don’t blame you, Charlie…  I _ never  _ blamed you…” 

It felt like tons of baggage slid from Charlie’s shoulders now; after all this time…  “ _ I _ still blame me _ ,  _ though…” 

George dropped his toast back to his plate so he could pick up the dragon on his lap and hug it tight.  He frowned deeply. “…Don’t, Charlie… It wasn’t your fault… I… I shouldn’t have gone off alone… I just…  I don’t blame you… I blame that man…” 

Fred, who was so quiet for once in his life, reached across to take his twin’s hand.  He squeezed it tight, but he didn’t let go. “…”

“You’re going to be okay,” Charlie promised.  “You’re safe here with me, and I won’t ever let anyone hurt you again –  _ either  _ of you.” 

Fred stood up.  “I’m going for a walk, Charlie…”

If it were George, Charlie would have told him no.  That he could go for a walk as long as he was with Charlie, but it would have to wait until after they’d all eaten their breakfast because George  _ knew  _ he was on suicide watch and wasn’t allowed to wander off on his own anymore.  

But  _ Fred  _ wasn’t on suicide watch, as much as Charlie was starting to have his suspicions he probably  _ should  _ be.  He frowned.  “Don’t wander too far off the marked trails, Fred; if you get into any trouble, send red sparks into the air and someone will Apparate directly to you.”

“Thanks…”  It was the glum look on Fred’s face that told Charlie it was too much for the older twin to hear this conversation so soon after waking up.  “I won’t be long…” 

Once the front door had closed behind him, George hugged Skye closer and whispered, “Sometimes I worry about Fred…”

“So do I, George…” Charlie pushed his plate away.  “So do I…” 

 

* * *

 

Fred still hadn’t come back, even for lunch.  Charlie wasn’t worried anymore; he’d been owled by one of his friends who’d told him Fred had apparently hit it off with another of the dragon keeper’s teenaged daughter, and it didn’t look like Fred was going to come back any time soon.  

It was okay; George was more than happy to stick close to Charlie’s side in his absence.  

In one of his rare moments he had more than ten minutes to himself without having to run around after dragons or other keepers, Charlie was cleaning.  He would have been out in the back, still feeding his baby dragons, but as he was on leave, that was taken care of for him, and George had been disappearing to help with the big job. 

His bedroom was dusty, and despite his lack of material possessions, it was still proving to be a big job.  He looked over his shoulder when he heard George coming in to join him, clearly done with the task of nursing the babies and exhausted.  

“A lot different than being at the Burrow, isn’t it?” Charlie grinned.  “What, living with Fred still isn’t enough to keep you on your toes?”

George gave a tired smile in return as he tenderly deposited Skye into the blankets next to him.  “Mum keeps  _ Fred  _ busy.  But everyone… kind of forgets about me…”

“I’m not sure how  _ anyone  _ could forget the twin terrors.” 

George clicked his tongue as he thought about how to explain it.  “…It’s… Everyone treats me like I’ll break if they ask me to do something for them…  Fred is the only one who… who actually  _ makes  _ me do things…  Fred knows I won’t break, but everyone else…” 

“I know you won’t break either, George; that’s why I asked mum if you could stay with me for a while.  So you’re not staying in your room all day every day. There’s plenty for you to do here.” 

George gestured to the duster in his brother’s hand.  “Can I help?” 

“You don’t need my permission for  _ anything,  _ George; you help yourself to whatever it is you want to do.” 

With that said, George got off the bed once again.  He stood, looking around to see what he could help with, before he was almost startled by a soft thump at his feet.  He looked down, and his smile stretched so far across his face, it reached his eyes as he realised Skye was trying to follow him.  He returned his brother’s grin at the knowledge, before he decided he could start with picking up the loose items strewn across the floor.  

It was mostly clothing, with the occasional random belonging thrown into the mix.  He’d followed the trail of mismatched socks to the other side of the bed, and upon leaning down to gather them all into his arms, his fingers brushed against a cardboard box.  He pulled it out, not sure if it was supposed to be under there or not. 

“Charlie, do you want me to leave this here?” 

Charlie turned his head to see what his brother was talking about.  His eyes widened as he watched the younger’s hand dip into the box. “George, no!” 

It was too late; he’d already resurfaced with a magazine, one with the cover photo of what he recognised to be a Norwegian Ridgeback.  He couldn’t work out why Charlie was so upset suddenly; it was just another dragon maga – o-oh…

George’s face flushed, and he dropped the magazine to the ground.  It wasn’t a dragon magazine; it was one of those dirty ones he’d seen Ron and Percy smuggling into the Burrow on occasion, except  _ this  _ magazine in front of him wasn’t filled to the brim with naked girls doing things that made him shudder in disgust; it was of males, doing things he’d tried  _ so  _ hard to think about and pretend he was  _ normal  _ and not so…  _ different  _ to everyone else but had found all it accomplished was upsetting him.  

“George?” Charlie braced himself for another meltdown, but instead, his brother simply looked at him with a dazed expression. 

“Do you really like these kinds of things, Charlie…?” George’s frown grew, and the older male didn’t miss the way his hand moved to his lap to press against himself.  “…” 

Charlie gulped; well, this had been unexpected.  “…Y-yeah, I… I suppose I do… Does it bother you that I look at those kinds of  things…?” 

George remained silent for several seconds as he contemplated the question.   _ Did  _ it bother him?  Well, he wasn’t sure.  He used to think that it  _ would,  _ but for the first time in his  _ life,  _ he had been aroused by his own thoughts – thoughts of Charlie, laying in bed at night, looking at those magazines.  

He shook his head.  “No…” 

The older male smiled.  He hesitated to do so, but he took a step closer to the younger.  His eyes moved to the growing bulge George was pushing against, as if doing so would make it go away.  He took his chances. “Is it… the first time you’ve felt hard like this…?”

“…Yeah…” 

Another step closer.  “Fred said… you’ve never masturbated before.  If you’d like… you could stay in here and do so…  I-if that’s what you  _ need,  _ of course.” 

“I don’t want to…” George chewed at his lip.  “…I want…” 

He was thinking about his answer, Charlie knew.  He stayed silent, giving the younger time to respond.  “…” 

“Why do you like to look at things like this…?” The question came in the form of a pained whisper.  “…Why…?” 

Charlie swallowed past the lump in his throat.  He knew to be honest here; if he was anything but, it could ruin the chances of his brother making any sort of recovery.  “I like to look at them because they make me feel good, George. Aren’t they making you feel good, too?” 

George shook his head.  “No…”

“But you’re…” He gestured to his brother’s lap.  

The younger twin’s head shook once more.  “Not because of that… Because… I was thinking… of you looking at them…” 

Charlie could have choked on his own saliva now.  He raised his hand to his mouth to chew at his fingernails.  

Silence fell.  An uncomfortable, pressing silence they both knew needed to be broken.  And then…

Charlie finally closed the distance between them.  He sat by George’s side and picked up the magazine.  He opened it. 

“What are you doing…?” George looked to his lap as he whispered. 

He answered the question with another question.  “Have you ever wanted to look at something like this before, George?”

“…A little…  But… N-not because I wanted to…  You know… I was just…  _ curious…   _ I wanted to know why…  Why Ron and Percy like them so much…” 

Charlie’s voice lowered into a husky growl.  “Why don’t you look at them with  _ me  _ and see how you feel afterwards?” 

He stared at his lap, contemplating.  Finally, he nodded. He picked Skye up and carried her back over to the bed so he could sit with her on his lap as he waited for his brother to join him.

“Tell me if at any point, you want me to put the magazine away,” Charlie promised.  He kicked his shoes and socks off so he could make himself comfortable next to George. 

It wasn’t so much the magazine or anything that was happening in it that was drawing George’s attention.  Sure, some of those stationary Muggle pictures made his groin feel strange, but mostly he was focused on his brother’s reactions to them.  

He studied the way Charlie’s brows would crease ever so slightly and his tongue would lick at his lips whenever there was another…  Another  _ p-penis  _ in plain view.  Though they were making George nervous, it was the older male’s reactions to them that were instead keeping him aroused.  

A tiny sound that seemed to be something of a cross between a whimper and a moan left Charlie’s lips at two of the men kissing each other deeply.  George’s eyes travelled down to the other’s lap, and he felt breathless at the bulge tenting Charlie’s pants that put his own slight raise of the fabric to shame.  

Charlie met his gaze, just as breathless as the younger.  They stared into each other’s eyes until the dragon keeper slowly moved his hand outward to touch George’s face.  

“C-charlie…?” George’s whisper was barely audible.  He turned to the side slightly to break eye contact.  “…Have you… Ever kissed someone before…?” 

Charlie nodded.  “Yes. I have, George.  Why do you ask?” 

The smaller male’s mouth went dry.  His hands trembled. “…I-I… w-w-want… t-to k-k-k…  To k-kiss someone o-one day, t-t-too…” 

Charlie’s smile was gentle as he rubbed his thumb against the corner of his brother’s mouth.  His tone had become even huskier. “What about today?” 

And then it happened.  The scenario the two of them had played over and over in their minds was finally coming true.  Their lips pressed together, gently at first, until Charlie pulled the younger closer and George’s lips parted for his tongue.  George let out a breathy gasp as he felt the other’s tongue sliding all throughout his mouth. His eyes closed, and he murmured something even he couldn’t understand.  

Charlie pulled away, smiling so tenderly as he clasped the other’s shoulders in his hands.  “Was that okay, George? I’d like to do it again if  _ you  _ want to.” 

Suddenly, the front of George’s pants had become damp as he threw his head back and gave a loud cry. 

 

* * *

 

“You won’t tell Fred, will you…?” 

They laid on Charlie’s bed together, George on his side with Charlie’s chest against his back and his arms wrapped securely around him.  They hadn’t taken any clothing articles off yet; George hadn’t been ready for any more than some deep kissing and a bit of cuddling, and Charlie didn’t want to rush him.  

Charlie curled his brother’s long hair around his index finger.  He smiled. “Of course not. You don’t think he’ll take it well?” 

“…” George’s arms tightened around his dragon as a tremble of anxiety assaulted him.  “…Fred… might not approve…” 

“Is it because we’re both male?” 

“It’s because we’re  _ brothers _ …” George pushed himself backwards to get as close as he possibly could against the stronger body.  “…Fred supports me liking other males… But I don’t want to know where his support _ ends _ …”

“Strangely enough, I’m not so worried about Fred.  It’s everyone else I think are the ones to be wary of.  Fred only wants you to be happy, George; I’d hardly think he would ever get upset over something that makes you happy – he’d be even more all for it, I’m sure.” 

“Please don’t tell him anyway, Charlie…  I couldn’t bear to lose Fred…” 

“I won’t say a word to him,” Charlie promised.  He used one hand to slide along his brother’s side while the other arm he slid beneath George’s head so he could hold the younger’s hand tightly.  He was still aroused, all this time later, but there was no way he was asking George to do  _ anything  _ to ease it for him – it could wait until George wasn’t around.  “You know, I thought I was finally going to get my house all nice and clean today.  Now look where we are.” 

George gave a soft laugh.  “Sorry. I’ll help you clean.  …Maybe we should get up before Fred comes home and finds us…” 

Charlie nodded.  He had been in the process of getting up again when he heard the younger whisper, “Fred’s been gone a long time…  Do you think something happened to him…?” 

“Fred’s a big boy; he can take care of himself, George.  He’ll be fine.” He got to his feet and stretched. “Have you had a shower today?  I was just thinking of taking one myself.” 

George shook his head.  “Not yet, Charlie… Can I have one tonight instead?” 

“Of course.  I won’t be long, George.  Maybe feed Skye while you wait for me.” 

The younger twin did as he was told.  He kept himself busy until Charlie had showered and dressed and they were now down in the living room together, wiping down the windows the Muggle way because Charlie insisted the physical activity was so much better for their mental wellbeing than using magic was.

A bit over an hour later, Fred came back, and though George’s inexperienced eyes missed them, Charlie wasn’t oblivious to the bitemarks on his brother’s neck.  He raised his eyebrow. “While George isn’t in the room with us, what are those on your neck, Fred?” 

“…” Fred raised his hand to put it over the bruises.  “…Nothing…”

Charlie shook his head.  “You know I’m not mad at you, Fred.  You can tell me the truth. I just don’t want anyone to hurt you.” 

Fred shrugged.  “Was nothing, Char…  Really… We just… We just  _ kissed  _ a bit, and…  M-maybe did a bit of stuff on top of our clothes…  But I didn’t want to have sex with her, Char –  _ honest _ .  I thought about it…  I thought I  _ wanted  _ to have sex with her…  But I panicked…” 

“You panicked?”

Fred nodded.  “I remembered seeing Georgie that day…  It scared me so much, I… I…”

Charlie nodded.  “I understand.” And he did.   


	6. Chapter 6

“…And then Dementors came, and he fell off his broom.  Fred and I thought he was going to splat.” 

Charlie’s eyes widened as his younger brother recounted a Quidditch match from Hogwarts last year.  He frowned deeply. “But he didn’t, did he?”

George shook his head.  “Nah, Dumbledore caught him before he hit the ground.  We lost the match, but it was okay because that prat, Malfoy, and his crew came out to another match, dressed as Death Eaters.  Harry blasted them with a Patronus and scared the shit out of them.” 

Charlie laughed.  Plastic bags swung from his arms that carried their Chinese takeaway for dinner, and George’s mouth watered at the smell.  “Yes, but there isn’t much that  _ wouldn’t  _ scare Draco, is there?  I’m glad Harry is okay, and Ron has such a good friend.  He talks about Harry and Hermione all the time when we write together.” 

The younger nodded his head.  “They’re all attached at the hip.  Fred says –“

Charlie jumped at his brother’s startled yelp, and he almost dropped their food when the younger slammed into him in a panic.  “George?!” 

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t meant to startle you, Fred.” 

Charlie reached out to grab his brother’s shoulders and steady him.  He frowned at the girl standing by their sides, certain that she had been the one Fred had been with the other day.  He whispered, “Are you okay?” to George before he turned his attention to her and said, “This is George. Fred’s at my house, looking after George’s dragon while we go for a walk together.” 

The girl’s nose crinkled, and her eyes narrowed slightly.  “Right. Like I believe that, after the way you just ran out on me with my hand down your pants!” 

George whimpered loudly.  He moved to hide behind Charlie, and the way he cowered in fear was enough for Charlie’s near-non-existent temper to rise; he was naturally a calm, easy-going person with the patience of a  _ saint _ , but if he ever saw someone upsetting his little brothers, they would find out for themselves that Charlie Weasley was  _ no  _ pushover.  

“You should watch how you speak to other people; George would  _ never  _ let a stranger put their hand down his pants – and speaking such vulgarities to him like this is only going to upset him.  As I said, you are thinking of Fred, who is at my home doing chores for me because I can  _ assure  _ you, you’d have  _ never  _ gotten your hand down George’s pants.” 

“You’re lying!” 

“Well, considering George already has a  _ boyfriend  _ and even  _ he  _ can’t accomplish such things _ ,  _ I hardly think I’m lying to you.  George, come here. Show her your neck.” 

George was afraid, but he trusted Charlie; if this could somehow clear up this misunderstanding, he would do as his brother requested.  He moved from behind the older male, and once he felt Charlie gently pulling his shirt away from his neck, he trembled. 

“See?  This  _ mole  _ wasn’t here before, was it?” It wasn’t just that; all the bruising along Fred’s neck that had still been there this morning wasn’t  _ here _ , and if she was too silly to put all this together, then he didn’t know how he was supposed to help her.  “Now, please. We’re hungry, and we’d like to be on our way.” 

George allowed himself to be tugged away from that girl.  He gave her a wary glance over his shoulder as Charlie forced him to pick up the pace – something he remembered his brother doing whenever he was angry.  

“Charlie…” George frowned.  “…Did Fred really…?” 

“Yes.  Maybe not to  _ that  _ extent…  But he  _ was  _ doing stuff with her.”  Charlie shook his head. “Anyway, don’t think too much on it; we were having a nice conversation.  Tell me more about the Quidditch Team. How is it?”

Charlie didn’t want to focus on his anger, George knew.  Charlie had always been like that; a positive, bubbly person who knew kindness and joy were much better tools than hatred and anger were.  Despite his anxiety, he smiled. “It’s… It’s definitely better now that Harry is on the team. Still nothing like when you were at school, but we’re winning again now, Char…” “ 

“I’m really glad to hear that, George.  You know, I always thought…” 

Their conversation remained fixed on Quidditch as they made their way back to Charlie’s home.  They walked inside and found Fred on the living room couch, a quill in hand as he jotted down notes in the journal George recognised as their plans for the joke products they were going to start developing.  

“Are you hungry, Fred?” 

“Yeah, I really am.” Fred closed the journal and deposited everything from his lap onto the coffee table instead.  “What’s for dinner?” 

“Chinese.  George, can you get us some plates, please?” 

George did as he was asked, and despite how delicious their meal was, he still couldn’t eat very much.  He’d eaten half a dozen mouthfuls in the fifteen minutes Fred and Charlie had been talking over dinner before he put his plate down on the coffee table and said softly, “I’m gonna go to bed, Charlie…” 

Charlie frowned.  “It’s only six-thirty, George; are you sure?” 

George nodded.  “I just… I’m tired…  Fred, where is Skye?” 

“Uh…  She was here a few minutes ago.” Fred looked around the living room, finding that the baby dragon had indeed wandered off.  “Sorry.” 

“I’ll find her…” George had taken all of three steps away from his brothers before he stopped and looked over his shoulder.  His eyes flickered between the two older males as he said softly, “…Fred…? Is it alright if… If Charlie sleeps with us tonight…?” 

Fred raised his eyebrow.  He gave Charlie a suspicious look, but though he didn’t voice his thoughts, he nodded.  “Yeah, George. If he wants to, that’s okay with me. You know it would be.” 

The youngest let out a sigh of relief.  “Thanks, Fred…”

Once George had left, Fred turned to look at Charlie.  His jaw was taut, and his eyes were slightly narrowed. His voice didn’t hold that same light, joking tone he was so well known for; instead, it was low, serious and  _ annoyed _ .  “What was that about, Charlie?”

Charlie shrugged.  He swallowed his mouthful of rice before he said, “He might just be feeling lonely; it’s still a very new environment for him, you know?  I’m sure it’s nothing.” 

“Rubbish; he has me and that bloody dragon.  It bit me last night because I tried to move it off me while Georgie was sleeping.” He extended his arm and pulled his sleeve back to show evidence of the teeth marks still etched deeply into his skin.  “George woke up when I yelped and told me off for upsetting it.” 

Charlie, as calmly as ever, put his cutlery down on his plate and stared into the younger’s eyes for several minutes until he concluded, “You are  _ jealous _ , Fred.” 

Fred sputtered.  His cheeks darkened slightly.  “I-I am  _ not _ jealous!”

Charlie laughed.  “You are! You’re jealous that George wants to spend time with someone other than you!” 

“No!  He can spend time with whoever he wants!” Charlie knew he was onto something with the way his brother’s voice started to raise.  “I just don’t want him to leave me behind!”

Charlie’s voice had become gentle once more.  “He says the same about you, Fred.  _ Neither  _ of you want to be left behind by the other – and you know what?  Neither of you  _ will  _ be.  You just need to learn how to let each other be with someone else for a little while.  As much as I hate to say it, one day you two are going to have to learn how to be apart.” 

Fred flinched.  His eyes glinted with unshed tears.  “…You think… he’s gonna k-k-“

“-Not like that, Fred!  I just… I mean like how one day you two will be living under different roofs, and seeing different people, and…  Just… Just  _ living  _ your  _ lives  _ differently, Fred.  I’d really hate to see the two of you, in your thirties and with no idea how to cope with being apart from each other.  And who knows; maybe this is George’s way of wanting to learn how to ease himself off you – you’d like that, wouldn’t you?  Having a bit more time to yourself? I saw the way you jumped so eagerly today when I suggested taking George for a walk; you  _ needed  _ time to yourself, Fred; we  _ both  _ know that.  You can’t spend your entire life at George’s every beckon and call; you need to look after  _ you  _ first and foremost.”  

Fred frowned.  He looked down at his plate of Chinese as his hands fumbled with each other.  “…I just… I’m  _ scared  _ of leaving him alone…  The last time I let him go off alone, he…”

“Fred.   _ Look  _ at me.” Charlie had never sounded so serious.  “ _ You  _ didn’t let George go off alone.   _ I  _ let George go off alone.  If you had gone with him that day, we would have had  _ two  _ brothers to stress about.  I know this may sound harsh, but I’m  _ glad  _ you didn’t go with him, Fred.  You going with him would have made no difference except  _ you  _ would have been hurt, too.  You couldn’t have protected him.  You could have tried… But who knows how that would have ended.  At the end of the day, it was  _ me  _ who let him go alone –  _ me,  _ who should have been with him.  Not  _ you _ ; you were five, Fred.   _ Five _ .  I understand how hard it is to know George has to go off on his own at times, but Fred…  Blaming yourself for something you had absolutely no control over is only going to keep hurting you.  Now, please… I don’t want to see you hurting yourself anymore, Fred…” 

“…” Fred looked away as his hands fumbled even more.

Charlie took a deep breath.  “May I see your wrists, Fred…?” 

Fred flinched.  “Why…?” 

“Because I’ve been wanting to talk to you about this for a while now, but I haven’t wanted to bring it up around George.  I’m very worried about you, Fred. You’ve had to shoulder this for a very long time, and neither of you have had the proper support you need.  Please? Let me see them.”

Fred hesitated, but finally he offered his arms to his brother.  He winced when the sleeve of his right arm was slipped back fully, revealing cut after cut that left no doubt it was self-harm.  Charlie’s heart broke. He took hold of the other sleeve, dragging it slowly back further from where his brother had left it just after the dragon bite, and just like the other arm, it also was mangled from deep gashes.  

“Fred…” Charlie closed his eyes to steady his emotions.  “…Fred, I understand so much what you’re going through… But please…  Don’t do this to yourself… I know it’s hard… You think you need to be strong for the both of you…  But really, you don’t, Fred. Be strong for  _ yourself,  _ and eventually George will follow your lead.”

“…I just…  Are you crying, Charlie…?” Fred’s fingers reached out to wipe away the stray tear that rolled down his big brother’s cheek. 

Charlie nodded. “I am…  Sometimes we all need a good cry, Fred…  It’s  _ okay  _ to cry, as much as you like to think otherwise…   _ Please,  _ Fred…  If you’re struggling, take some time out…  Ask Percy, or Ron, o-or – or  _ someone  _ to take over George for a while…  Write to me and tell me what’s bothering you…  I’m  _ always  _ going to be here for you, Fred.  I don’t want to see you doing this alone anymore.” 

Fred nodded.  He didn’t reply, though; he didn’t know  _ how _ .  He stayed silent for the rest of the night until they decided to join George in bed.  He lay down between George and the wall, watching his big brother getting dressed into pyjama pants, and finally, once Charlie was laying with him, he watched as the oldest male pulled George tight into his arms before he reached across to take Fred’s hand in his own and hold it tight.  

“Do you mind me holding your hand, Fred?” He had whispered.

Fred shook his head.  “No…” And with that, he closed his eyes and fell into a fitful sleep, one that could have given George’s nightmares a run for their money.   


	7. Chapter 7

Fred seemed to be taking Charlie’s words to heart, and in doing so, Charlie was glad to see his little brother looking so much better, both physically, mentally and emotionally.  His skin was looking healthier, no longer that pale, sickly tinge to it that had developed almost immediately after they had found George that day. His hair looked shinier, and his body was much more loose-limbed.  

It was because Fred was taking more time to himself these days, Charlie knew.  He was relaxing on the couch, or in the bed – whichever one tickled his fancy – working on the products he and George were only too happy to tell him all about.  Hell, he was even eating more as he was finally starting to put weight onto his thin frame. 

Likewise, George was doing loads better as well, which only seemed to strengthen his hypothesis that the twins had been feeding off each other’s negativity.  

“You know, George…” Charlie’s eyes fixed on his brother’s kiss-swollen lips, “…if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you like this.” 

George smiled down at his brother from where he was straddling the older male’s hips as Charlie laid down on the couch for him.  It was something they had come to find out together that George could handle; if he had control of the situation, he could cope with it.  He gave a cheeky grin. “Maybe… Maybe not.” 

Charlie chuckled.  He reached his hands out to coax his brother closer.  “Come here, George. Let me feel you.” 

George slid up the older male’s body so he was sitting on Charlie’s chest.  He closed his eyes and gave a soft gasp as calloused hands rested on his hips – a spot they had not long ago found George enjoyed  _ very  _ much.  “Nnghn…  C-charlie…” 

Charlie’s hands never wandered from those soft, bony hips – they didn’t  _ need  _ to.  He loved the soft sounds he could coax from his beautiful brother just by running his fingertips along the warm flesh and – o-oh…

“G-george…” Charlie bit back his moan when he felt his brother’s hardening length twitch against his nipple.  His hips almost bucked upward on their own, but he knew in times like these, he needed the utmost control of himself for George’s sake.  “You like this, don’t you…?” 

George’s eyes squeezed shut as he nodded, breathy gasps escaping his lips.  His body pressed closer into the touches, but just like every other time like this, he still couldn’t get very hard at all; just a slight raise of his pants and a twitch here and there, and then… nothing.  

It was surprising to Charlie, honestly.  His brother’s body was so unused to touch, he’d have expected for George to become so undone with the sudden, unusual influx of pleasurable touch that he’d be ejaculating within seconds.  Unless, of course, it was the mental trauma that was still making it difficult for arousal… 

Charlie was going to have to fix that, he knew.  

He reached out to cup the back of George’s head and bring him down for another kiss.  His hand continued palming against the soft skin of his brother’s hip until they broke apart and he instead brought his hand to the younger’s face to caress his cheek with his thumb.  

George smiled tiredly as he laid down next to the older male.  He allowed his eyes to slip closed as he took in everything that had happened in the past fifteen minutes.  He felt his hand being squeezed, and he only relaxed further. “Do you think Fred will be home soon…?”

“No; I gave him a big shopping list for a reason, George.  He won’t be back for – a-ahh…!” Charlie bit back a whimper as George brushed against his arousal.  He closed his eyes and tried to think of the most disturbing things he could to settle himself, but it was no use; he was hard and ready for action – the only problem was, George wasn’t. 

“C-charlie…?” George had taken to staring out of the window now.  “…Umm… If you’re… You can… You can take care of it… I-I don’t mind…” 

Charlie shook his head; he could tell from the younger’s reaction that he  _ did  _ mind.  “It’s okay, George; I don’t need to.  I can ignore it.”

“No…  No, don’t ignore it, Charlie…” The younger twin started pulling at his sleeves.  “…U-umm… I-I… It’s not… fair… on you… to be so patient with me…” 

“George…  It’s my  _ job  _ to be patient with you.  I wouldn’t love you if I wanted to rush you.” 

George didn’t know how to respond to that, so he said the first thing he could think of.  “Okay, but if you… If you wanted to – I don’t know… M-maybe look at your magazines again or something…  I-I’m okay with that, Charlie …” 

It was the flush to the younger’s face that told Charlie George  _ did  _ know what he wanted right now.  He smiled, and he reached out to thread his fingers through the other’s soft ginger hair.  “I’ve got a better idea than those magazines, George. I’d rather things be…  _ natural _ .” 

“N-natural…?” George licked his lips.  “You mean…?”

“Yes.  I think there are  _ better  _ things for me to fantasise about today rather than over pictures in a magazine.” 

A strangled whimper left George’s lips as his hips bucked upwards of their own accord.  His mouth felt dry as he whispered, “M-me…?”

Charlie nodded.  “Is it okay that I think about you?” 

“Y-yeah…” George’s pants felt just that little bit tighter.  “I-I… Yeah, it’s okay… Can I watch…?”

“If that is what you want, George.” 

Nothing more was said between them now.  Charlie’s hand dragged down his chest, to his stomach, and rested against the zipper of his pants.  He pulled the zip downward before he raised his hips and pushed his pants down to his knees. He made sure to position himself so that George had full view of him.  

George swallowed past the thick lump in his throat as he watched his brother’s hand wrap around his thick cock.  He licked his lips and whimpered quietly when his own shaft gave a twitch in interest. 

Charlie closed his eyes as he focused on the sensations in his groin.  He played images of his twin brothers together through his mind, gasping softly as he imagined the way Fred would take George into his mouth and bob his head up and down.  

From beside him, George’s eyes stayed focused on the older male’s hand.  He whimpered, and for the first time in his life, his hand moved to the slowly-growing bulge in his pants of his own will, rather than him having to battle for the mental energy to do so.  

“That’s it…” Charlie’s voice was husky, and it sent shivers down the younger’s spine.  He cracked open an eyelid to watch George. “Mmm… Good boy… Good boy, George…” 

George squeezed his eyes shut tight and whimpered loudly at those words.  His pants were far too constricting for him now, and he tugged at them to try and relieve the pressure.  

“You can take them off if you want…” Charlie’s hand had stilled, and he nodded to his little brother.  “You can do this here with me if you want – see if you like it. I won’t touch you; I promise.” 

George was still for several seconds.  Then, for the first time in his life, he pushed his pants down to free his willing erection.  He bit down on his lip as anxiety crossed his face, but Charlie didn’t push him into anything; he only resumed stroking himself, knowing his brother would do what he was comfortable with.  

“Mmm…” Charlie turned his head to the side as his mouth parted slightly.  He let out a soft, pleased sigh. “George…” 

George looked down at his own arousal.  He was wasn’t completely hard, maybe halfway there.  He was much smaller than Charlie was, but his cock curved slightly to the side whereas the older male’s stood straight.   He cocked his head; did he… just reach out and…?

His hand shook violently.  He looked back to Charlie, observing the way the other seemed so natural at this – though, he realised, he probably  _ was  _ because  _ Charlie  _ wasn’t sexually dysfunctional…  

His thoughts were getting dark again.  If this kept up, he was going to curl up under the blankets, even more adverse to masturbating than he already was.  

Charlie must have seen it on his face.  He gestured for his brother to come closer.  Their mouths pressed together once more, and it was enough to rid George of his uncomfortable thoughts.  

“I love you, George,” Charlie promised.  “You don’t have to do  _ anything  _ you aren’t ready for.  That includes  _ this _ .  Take as much time as you need.” 

It was those words that gave George the courage to slide his hand slowly into his lap and ghost his fingertips against his hardened shaft.  He took a shaky breath; he’d never gotten this far before – never been able to get himself  _ aroused  _ to get this far.  

“C-charlie…” George slowly curled his fingers around the base of his cock, just like Charlie had at the start.  His breathing became heavy as he licked his lips. “…Charlie… K-keep talking to me… So I know… it’s you…” 

“Oh, George, you have no… Mmngh…  No idea how much… I’ve wanted to watch you do this…” His suspicions were correct; his words drew a quiet whimper from his brother.  “I think about this a lot… About you and Fred… Fred making love to you while I watch…” 

George’s eyes closed again.  Finally, his hand started moving, albeit slowly –  _ warily _ .  “C-charlie…” 

“I like to think about you… on your own in the bedroom… with your legs spread wide and your hand between your legs, moaning my name…” 

Already, George’s hand was moving rapidly along himself, and the older male could see his balls tightening.  “U-ungh…” 

“My favourite thing to think about… is you… on your back… with me so deep inside you… making love to you…” Charlie let out a loud grunt as he felt his own climax approach.  “…Filling you up so deeply when I…” 

That was it.  George had been pushed over the edge.  Charlie groaned at the feeling of hot semen splashing his chest and stomach, with a little bit of it hitting him on the chin.  He worked himself faster, replaying the other’s orgasm over and over in his mind. 

He lasted far longer than his brother had, but that was to be expected; Charlie was experienced, and George…  

Well, it didn’t take a genius to work out why George had came so easily.  

Charlie chuckled.  He lifted his arm to invite George to cuddle in against him, and once the younger had, he grabbed some tissues from the bedside table and wiped them both clean.  “How was that, George? Was it okay for you?” 

George hid his face against his brother’s chest.  He nodded, and in a tired voice he mumbled, “It was okay…” 

“Just okay?” The older male hugged his brother tight to him.  “I can teach you… a lot more things. Find something you like best.  Maybe one day you’ll be able to do it on your own – if you ever wanted to.”  

George shook his head.  His voice was slurred from sleepiness.  “Don’t want to on my own… Only… with Charlie…”  With that, he was fast asleep. 


	8. Chapter 8

“You look so glum.”

George turned away from the window he had been watching the scenery from as the Hogwarts train sped through the countryside.  He frowned deeply at the worried expression on Lee’s face. He shook his head, trying to change the subject. “Where’s Fred…?” 

“Going to the toilet.  Are you okay?” Lee moved closer to his friend, and though under normal circumstances he would have wrapped his arm around the other’s shoulders and held him close, he didn’t today; he was one of the handful George didn’t normally flinch around, but here he was, cowering at Lee’s proximity.  “George… George, I’m really worried about you. Did someone…?”

George’s eyes narrowed, and an angered noise left his lips.  He hugged himself tight as he growled out, “What are you implying, Lee…?  That I can’t  _ look after  _ myself…?  That if someone… wanted to  _ hurt  _ me, I’m too…  Too  _ weak _ …?”

“George, I never meant to –“

“-Are you saying  _ Charlie  _ would have hurt me?  Because he’s the only person apart from Fred I’ve been with!” George slid himself backwards to fill the empty space in the corner of the carriage.  He pulled his knees to his chest. He was yelling now. “ _ Charlie  _ wouldn’t hurt me, Lee!  He  _ wouldn’t _ !  He’s  _ gentle  _ with me!  He doesn’t make me do anything I don’t want to do!  He lets  _ me  _ decide everything!” 

Lee was in a stunned silence, not knowing what had brought this on; George was usually so quiet – so  _ easy-going _ .  He’d never thought he’d get this reaction from the younger twin, but somehow… he had offended his friend greatly, and it seemed to be over Charlie – but  _ why  _ over Charlie?  

…Had George’s brother been doing something to the younger over the holidays?  Fred had told him they’d been staying with the older male, but from when he had met Charlie that day in Diagon Alley, he hadn’t taken the man to be an abuser.  

But with the way George was acting…  It was worrying. 

Lee’s eyes flickered over his friend’s body, trying to find the slightest hint of abuse.  There were scars poking out from beneath his sleeves, but that was nothing new; they’d been there even  _ before  _ they’d ever met.  There  _ was  _ a hint of fear on the ginger’s face, but other than that, he couldn’t – wait.

“What’s that on your neck?” Lee braced himself for an explosion as his eyes fixed on what appeared to be a bruise peeking from behind the other’s turtleneck.  He bit his lip as George’s own eyes widened and he slapped his hand over his neck to hide the marring. “George…? Did Charlie give you that…?”

George’s eyes filled with tears as his breathing became erratic; he knew he couldn’t let anyone find out that he and Charlie were in love, but how did he cover this up?  He knew no one would ever believe him if he tried to say he’d met someone over the holidays. 

“George!”

Fred had come back, and Lee let out a sigh of relief.  He grabbed the other’s attention and explained his concerns, and it was the look of terror on Fred’s face that made Lee feel even more afraid; it  _ had  _ to be that their brother had been molesting George because he’d never been like this before.  The way he’d vehemently defended Charlie… 

Lee wouldn’t be surprised if there was a bit of Stockholm Syndrome involved, too – probably because they were…  He shuddered. …Brothers…

“George, what happened to your neck…?” Fred looked so sad as he stood in the middle of the compartment, having no idea what he was supposed to do right now.  “Who did that to you…?”

“I bet  _ money  _ it was Charlie,” Lee murmured.  

Fred shook his head.  “It  _ couldn’t  _ have been; Charlie’s straight, and…  And he’s our  _ brother _ …” 

“Fred, if you’d seen the way he freaked out when I suggested him, you’d understand why I’m so concerned…” Lee scratched the back of his hand, despite there being no itch.  

Fred started pacing. He paced for three minutes before he stopped and took another look at George, who was now rocking himself in the corner, his arms hugged tight around himself.  

“Georgie…” Fred tried to get closer and put his hand on his twin’s knee, but all it accomplished was earning a howl of distress from the younger.  He moved back to give George room. “Georgie, I… I-I… If Charlie’s been doing  _ anything  _ to you, I –“

“-Charlie didn’t do  _ anything  _ to me I didn’t want!” George’s tears came harder until he was in hysterics.  His own nails slid under his sleeves and didn’t just scratch; they  _ shredded _ .  “C-c-charlie d-didn’t do  _ anything  _ bad, F-f-fred!” 

“Are you saying you  _ wanted  _ to do things with Charlie…?” Fred’s tone had dropped so slow, George couldn’t decipher his emotions.  

The younger twin shook his head harder.  “N- _ no,  _ F-freddie…!  It… wasn’t… C-charlie…!  H-honest…!”

The panic in Fred’s chest only swelled further to hear this; had someone been taking advantage of sweet George behind their backs…?  “Who was it, Georgie? I  _ swear,  _ if I get my hands on them…” 

It was over.  There was no way they were getting anything more out of George today – not with the way he had fallen into a blubbering, hysterical mess.  Fred murmured to Lee to put a silencing spell up on their compartment so no one else could hear his brother’s breakdown, and with that, he sat near George, not daring to get too close, but near enough that his twin could still hear his soft murmurs that everything was going to be okay and he was  _ safe _ .  

Just when it seemed George was finally starting to calm down, Fred said the forbidden words.  “I’ll write to Charlie and tell him what’s happened, Georgie; don’t you worry because he’s going to sort this all out.” 

And then, if they’d thought George had been bad before, he was completely  _ gone _ now.  

 

* * *

 

“How is he…?” 

Fred looked up from the letter he was writing from the comfort of George’s bed.  Lee Jordan had just entered, having been downstairs in the Gryffindor common room with Angelina Johnson before coming up for bed.  He glanced down at the lump beneath his blankets next to him and frowned before he looked back to the smaller male crossing the dormitory now.  “He’s asleep…” 

Lee let out a relieved sigh.  “He’d need the sleep after today…”

Fred nodded.  He looked back to his letter now, reading it in his mind.

**_Dear Charlie,_ **

**_Something happened on the train back to Hogwarts.  Georgie had another breakdown, but it was because something has been happening to him in Romania.  I hate to think it, but I think someone there has been abusing him; he kept flinching away from us on the train._ **

**_We asked him about it, and he started freaking out.  I don’t want to blame anyone, but if someone has been hurting my Georgie, I’m going to be very mad, Charlie.  I don’t want to write to mum and dad and worry them until I know for sure, but I’d really appreciate it if you can look into this for me._ **

**_Love, Fred._ **

“Do you think it was Charlie…?” 

Again, the question that had been on his mind all day.  His quill scratched at the parchment once more. 

**_And if it turns out you’ve been doing things to George he doesn’t like, you’ll want to hope the Ministry finds out about it before I do._ **

With that added, Fred leant down to his side to ruffle his twin’s hair and kiss him goodnight on the temple.  He folded his letter neatly before he swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood up, stretching. “I don’t know, Lee…  I bloody hope not…” 

Lee slipped his pyjama shirt over his head.  “Charlie seemed like such a nice guy when I met him…” 

“Yeah…” Fred pulled back the blankets of his own bed.  “…Try having been raised by the guy… I always thought it was impossible for someone to be so genuinely nice…” 

“Whoever it is, if I ever get my hands on them…” Lee closed his eyes as his head hit the pillow.  His voice slurred slightly as oblivion quickly washed over him. “…I’ll… They’ll wish they’d… never been born…” 

Fred nodded.  He rolled onto his side so he could face George’s bed.  He closed his eyes, but sleep wasn’t going to come to him any time soon – not when he had to keep opening them because otherwise all he could see was the rivers of blood that had painted that bathroom floor red all those years ago, with his brother’s naked, injured,  _ unmoving…  _  Cold and dead body in the middle of it all...


	9. Chapter 9

**_Dear George,_ **

**_I hope school is going well for you.  I know how much you hate being there, but this year is going to be exciting with the Triwizard Tournament happening, so you have that to look forward to.  Knowing you and Fred, you’ll both have tried to put your names forth for it, I’m sure._ **

**_Skye’s getting much bigger now.  She’s almost too big to come inside, but she’s gotten so used to sleeping on the bed with you, she’s been pining since you went back to school.  I’ll keep looking after her for you until you come back home, so don’t worry; I’ll keep you updated with her._ **

**_I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to write back to you after you’ve sent so many letters, George, but I got a letter from Fred back in September, and it made me very afraid to write to you.  He wrote something very concerning to me, and I just want you to know that I love you so very much, and if anything happened in Romania to have hurt or scared you, I’m so sorry; it’s the last thing I want for you.  When I got Fred’s letter, I cried for a week straight as I thought about how you might have been feeling without me even realising._ **

**_I’ll see you again very shortly, though – much sooner than you’ll ever expect.  I’ve run out of time to write more in this letter, but it’s okay; we’ll talk again in person._ **

**_Lots and lots of love,_ **

**_Charlie._ **

Fred looked back to his own letter from Charlie that had been addressed to him; compared to George’s, it was incredibly short.  He read it again, trying to get as much information from it as possible. 

**_Dear Fred,_ **

**_I’m so sorry to hear about this!  To the best of my knowledge, nothing has happened to George; he seemed just fine in Romania – perhaps better than he’s been in several years now.  Regardless, I’ll talk to the other dragon keepers he’s met and try to get to the bottom of things._ **

**_Lots of love,_ **

**_Charlie._ **

Something wasn’t right, Fred knew.  The long letter sent only for George’s eyes that would have been even longer if he’d had the time to finish it.  The way he seemed so avoidant on the topic of what could have happened to George. …The way he hadn’t responded to either of them for almost two months when it seemed George had been writing to him a lot more than Fred had even realised.  

He sighed, and while George showed no sign of returning to the Great Hall for breakfast any time soon from where he had disappeared to see Madam Pomfrey about a migraine, he elbowed Lee in the ribs and passed him the two letters.

Lee’s eyes scanned the letters, moving away from Katie Bell’s prying eyes so no one else could read them.  He frowned as he handed them back and watched Fred slide one of the letters back into the envelope before he repaired it so no one could tell it had been opened previously.  “Did he always write to Charlie a lot?” 

Fred shook his head.  “He didn’t even write to  _ mum  _ very much; it was always me writing letters for the both of us and sending them off…  What I wouldn’t give to know what kind of letters George has been writing to him…”

From across the table, Ron gathered their attention.  “You guys talking about Charlie?”

Fred nodded.  “You heard from it lately, Ron?”

“Yeah, he’s been writing to me almost every week, wanting updates on George.  Says you wrote to him and told him something worrying, and just wants to know how George is doing.” 

“See, he can write to  _ Ron,  _ but can’t respond to George or I!” Fred pushed his bowl of porridge away and stood up.  “Lee, let’s go; I’m not hungry anymore.” 

Lee frowned as he looked back at his toast longingly before he wisely snatched up several more pieces to go; he knew when Fred needed company, and this was one of those times.  “You’re worried about George, aren’t you?” 

“Yeah, I am.  Who knows what sick things Charlie has been doing to him…  He’s probably been writing to Ron because he’s scared George is going to tell someone about it.” 

“Why don’t  _ we  _ tell someone?  Dumbledore? McGonagall?  Before something happens!” The smaller male took a vicious bite out of his toast and swallowed it before he continued.  “You know better than anyone how George is, Fred! What if he  _ kills  _ himself over this?!” 

Fred froze on the spot.  He was as still as a statue for several seconds before he raised his hand to his mouth and bit down on it so hard, his lips and teeth stained red with his own blood.  “You’re right, Lee… He  _ would  _ kill himself over something like this!  Oh, my god… Lee, we need to find out what kind of letters George has been writing to him!  They might give us answers!” 

It wasn’t unusual at all to see the pair running through the corridors, but this morning, they weren’t running to escape teachers; they were running to race against time – who knew how long they had to uncover the truth and save George from Charlie’s clutches?   

Gryffindor Tower was empty aside from the two of them, which made tearing apart their own dormitory easy enough.  They looked everywhere George might hide letters that hadn’t been sent for whatever reason, and finally, they found some; a stack of what seemed to be scrapped or unfinished letters hidden beneath the youngest’s mattress.  

Lee wasn’t oblivious to the way Fred was hesitant to read them; the ginger was probably too scared of what he was going to find.  He took the letter Fred was holding but was trying so hard to not look at. “I’ll read them for you, Fred… Don’t worry; I’ll tell you if I find anything that worries me…”

It had been ten seconds tops before Fred was wincing as his friend whimpered, “Fred…?  Why is George talking about his brother like this…?”

Fred snatched the letter away.  His eyes scanned the letter, and his wincing became worse as he read,  _ Do you find it easy to masturbate, Charlie?  I’ve been trying, but I haven’t been able to get hard.  I’ve even tried to pretend you’re masturbating me, but it just makes it even harder to feel aroused.  What do you think about to get hard over? I’m trying to do everything you taught me to, but – _

“I want to strangle him…” A single tear rolled down Fred’s cheek.  “Georgie would  _ never  _ talk about this stuff without being forced to…  He doesn’t even talk to  _ me  _ about it…”

Lee chewed at his lip.  “We need to tell someone about this, Fred…  Who knows how far George has gone with him…”  

“I know…  But I need to talk to him about it first…”  Fred clutched tightly at the letter in his hand, crumpling it.  “I don’t know… how Charlie is hurting him mentally… It could break Georgie to take him away if Charlie’s taught him to depend on the things he does to him…” 

The smaller male nodded.  “You’re right, Fred… We don’t know how much this has messed his mind up…  We need to be careful…” 

True to their words, they sat together with George in Potions, Lee on one side and Fred and on the other.  They kept sneaking glances at George whenever they could get away with it, searching him over for even the most subtle of hints that he was being abused behind their backs.  

However, as inconspicuous as they thought for sure they were, George had had enough of shuddering under their scrutinising looks.  “Will you  _ stop  _ it?!” 

Fred jumped at his twin’s shout.  His eyes widened slightly as the other’s textbook came out of nowhere and whacked him over the head before George had stood up and pushed all of his belongings into his bag.  “George, wait!” 

“Will you two stop having a lover’s spat in my class and  _ pay attention!? _ ”  Snape’s eyes narrowed at the two.  “Mr. Weasley, put your stuff back on the table and  _ listen  _ for once in your miserable life!” 

George had opened his mouth to argue back, but he looked down at Lee when the smaller male tugged at his sleeve urgently.

“Sit down, mate; it’s not worth getting into trouble over…” 

“Ten points from Gryffindor, and if you do not sit back down in the next five seconds, it will be  _ thirty  _ points taken next, Mr. Weasley.” 

Finally, George sat back down.  He glared back at Snape with his arms folded across his chest, unwavering as Snape’s hatred towards him only intensified.  

“Keep looking at me like that and I will have the class force feed you their potions to make sure they do it  _ right _ ,” he hissed.  “ _ Fifty  _ points from Gryffindor for such arrogant  _ disrespect _ .” 

George had risen up out of his seat again.  The class watched in stunned silence as their fellow student who was usually so quiet compared to his twin  _ exploded _ .  “You can’t do that, you stupid son a bitch!  I hate you so much! You think you can talk to me like that, you slimy git?!  You’re more fucking disrespectful than I –“

“George!” Fred grabbed his brother’s arm and dragged him from the classroom before a brawl broke out.  Lee followed them, and once Fred had wrestled his writhing brother against the wall to pin him there for his own safety, he bellowed, “What has gotten into you, George?!  Why are you acting like such a brat lately?!”

“Let me go, Fred!” George’s writhing turned into thrashing as panic crept up on him.  “J-just let me  _ go _ !” 

“No, George, you need to  _ listen  _ to me!” Fred struggled harder to keep his brother against the wall, lest he break free and bash his head against the hardest thing he could find.  Lee, as if reading his thoughts, moved his hand to rest against the back of his friend’s skull in case he tried banging it against the wall behind him.  “You’re not  _ well _ !  Something’s hurting you!” 

“ _ Nothing  _ is hurting me, Fred!   _ You  _ are,  _ right now! _  Leave me  _ alone _ !” 

“We know about Charlie, George!” Lee sounded as high-strung as George looked.  “We  _ know  _ what he’s been doing to you!  We went through your letters!” 

George froze.  “…” 

Fred’s voice softened now, and he loosened his grip around his brother’s forearms.  “Why didn’t you tell me, Georgie…? You know I would never let anyone hurt you…” 

Tears filled George’s eyes, and his thrashing resumed.  Fred let him go, and he and Lee watched as George ran from them.  

“So much for talking to him about it…” Lee scratched at his chin.  “He  _ doesn’t want  _ to talk about it…” 

Fred sighed.  “Maybe George doesn’t want to…  But I’m gonna  _ make  _ Charlie talk…” 

 

* * *

 

George didn’t know how long he’d been laying bed for, but he suspected it had been hours as Fred and Lee had been in and out several times to change their school books.  He sighed, hugging his pillow tighter. They hadn’t tried talking to him when they’d been in the dorm; he suspected they were absolutely sickened by him and couldn’t stand to so much as  _ look  _ at him anymore. 

So when he heard the dorm door open again, he didn’t turn around to see who it was; he only waited for them to leave again.

“George…?” 

George turned around at Ron’s voice.  He cocked his head to the side. “Ron…?  What are you doing in here…?” 

“Charlie asked me to come and find you.” Ron frowned.  “Are you okay, George? You’ve been crying…” 

The younger twin wiped at his red face.  He nodded. “I’m okay… Wait, Charlie…?” 

“Yeah, Charlie’s here.  Wait until you see, George.  Come on.” 

George didn’t hesitate to sit up.  He swung his legs off the bed and stood up.  “Where is he, Ron? Where is he?” 

Ron didn’t think it was strange his brother was hyper all of a sudden; he’d put it down to the older male having simply missed Charlie and wanting his company.  “You’ll see.” 

And he did.  Not even twenty minutes later, he was standing in the forest, staring from a distance at all of the caged dragons and their keepers.  He took a deep breath. “Ron… Ron, why are they all here?” 

“For the First Task.  It’s dragons.” 

“Not  _ Skye…?! _ ” George’s heart stopped, and he immediately felt panic at the thought that his beautiful dragon might have been chosen to be injured – or worse…  He took off running into the field. “Charlie! Charlie, where are you?!” 

“Whoa, there, George!  What’s the hurry?!” When those familiar arms wrapped around him and pulled him against a chest he knew so well, George instantly relaxed.  He tilted his head back to look into Charlie’s blue eyes. 

“Skye isn’t here, is she…?  She isn’t going to get hurt, will she, Charlie…?” His hand curled into Charlie’s shirt.  

Charlie smiled.  “Skye’s here, but she isn’t going to get hurt; I promise you that.  She’s only here because I knew you’d want to see her again. Come on; she’s missed you, too.” 

George could barely contain his excitement when he was led to a cage much smaller than the others where he could already see familiar pale blue scales pacing through the bars.  “Skye!” 

At his voice, the dragon inside let out a familiar roar as she stomped her front feet on the bottom of the cage, her long talons clacking against the metal while the nubs all over her body had grown a few centimetres into sharp spikes that grated against the bars.  

“Skye!” George’s face that had held such a depressed look all day had morphed into a joyful expression as he dropped to his knees and put his arm through the bars to pat the dragon’s head.  He smiled brightly as he rested his forehead against the metal and whispered, “I’ve missed you so much, Skye… You’ve grown!” 

“I mentioned that in my letter to you,” Charlie said gently.  

“Letter?” George looked back at his brother in confusion.  “What letter?” 

The older male frowned.  “The letter you should have got this morning from me…  Didn’t you get it?” 

George shook his head.  He opened his mouth to say no, but then his eyes widened as he clicked on.  “Fred and I got mail this morning… But I left to see the nurse before I saw who it was from…”

Charlie understood.  “Fred didn’t give you your letter…” 

“No…  He didn’t…” His eyebrows furrowed in hurt; it was making so much sense now…  “Charlie… Can we talk in private somewhere…? Away from everyone…?” 

“Of course, George.  Two seconds.” The older male unlocked the cage to let Skye out, and once she had stepped onto the gravel and stretched her wings, the two Weasleys walked towards the tree line with Skye behind them.  He waited until they were out of earshot before he asked, “What’s bothering you, George?” 

The younger male slid his back down one of the tree trunks.  He took a moment to clear his mind, and it wasn’t until Skye had laid next to him with her head in his lap did he finally speak.  “…Fred and Lee know… About us…” 

Charlie muttered something under his breath before he said, “I know he does…  He wrote to me… Does anyone else know?” 

“I’m not sure…  I think…” Tears welled up in George’s eyes now.  “…I think they’re disgusted with me, Charlie… They wouldn’t even  _ look  _ at me after they told me they knew…  They think I’m disgusting, and they hate me…”

Charlie knelt next to his brother.  He threaded his calloused fingers through the other’s long hair and whispered, “Shh…  They don’t hate you; I’m sure they… don’t understand. It’s a very…  _ taboo  _ thing that we have, George…  You know how unaccepted it is to like the same gender…  But  _ family  _ is on a whole new level…”

Charlie leant across so he could kiss George’s soft lips.  He shook his head as he pulled away. George frowned even deeper.  “…Charlie… Charlie, I… Why can’t they just let me be happy…? They keep acting like I don’t know what I want for myself…  Like I’m doing something  _ bad _ , Charlie…” 

“Well, Fred loves you very much, George, and I’m sure Lee does, too.  It sounds to me like you two are back in the same cycle you were in before; you keep feeding off each other, making things worse.  Why don’t you stay here with me, George? I’ll let Dumbledore know where you are and that you’re safe. You’ll have Skye and I with you, and you can have a good, long rest. Do you have any other classes for the day?” 

George shook his head.  “I want to stay here with you…” 

“Alright, let me get you to my tent.  I’ll get you nice and comfortable, and then I’ll go and talk to Ron for a bit while he’s here and come back to you.  Alright?” 

The younger gave a shy smile.  “Okay…” 

As promised, George was shown to his brother’s tent.  He enjoyed the cosiness of how small it was, and while Skye certainly had grown big enough to be up to his ribs already, she still fit easily onto the floor next to the bed, where he could lay down and reach over the edge to stroke his fingers along her now-spiked back.  

“I won’t be long at all, George.  Hang tight.” 

With that, George just had to wait patiently before he could finally be back in Charlie’s arms.  

 

* * *

 

Despite the fact that there were four dragons right outside their tent and another one right next to their  _ bed,  _ it was quiet.  George had previously considered if there was some sort of silencing charm up around the area, but all thoughts of that had vanished from his mind when Charlie had joined him in the bed and pulled him onto his lap and kissed him senseless.  

Back in Romania, it had been a  _ very  _ slow progress, but just like last time they’d been together, the younger male allowed his school robes to be slipped from his shoulders and his shirt pulled off.  He moaned loudly when he felt his chest being kissed, each of his nipples sucked with the utmost tenderness. Large hands caressed up and down his sides, and with his eyes squeezed tightly shut as he took in the overwhelming sensations, his hips rocked slightly, his arousal tenting his pants slightly.  

Charlie’s mouth moved from George’s chest and to his neck instead.  His lips ghosted along the soft flesh before his teeth bit gently at the crook of his brother’s neck and shoulder.  He sucked, ever mindful to not leave huge, glaring marks that would be obvious from a distance, but still wanting to claim the younger as his own.  

“Charlie…” George’s eyes fluttered open so he could look into the other’s loving gaze.  He sighed happily as he leant into his brother’s embrace. “Charlie… Can you take your shirt off, too…?  I want to see…” 

Charlie was only too happy to oblige.  He pulled his shirt off to reveal a chest strong from years of working with dragons, yet also scarred from them.  An old gash ran from Charlie’s right shoulder, down to his left hip, his biggest marring, yet with plenty of smaller’ scars surrounding it. 

It made George feel better around his own scars.  His were from completely different things, but still…  He wasn’t the only one whose body was far from perfect.  

“Charlie…” They made eye contact.  “…I want… to touch…” 

Charlie swallowed past the lump in his throat as he nodded.  His breathing was a little harsher now from anticipation, and his cock twitched in his jeans.  He leant back on his elbows to give his brother room to explore, and when the other’s fingertips ghosted against his chest, he fought back a groan; he’d waited so long for this moment…  George’s touch was light… curious. He’d spend his time focusing on old scars, or caressing certain spots that made Charlie shiver in need. His own breathing had picked up now, and he dragged his fingers down Charlie’s chest, to his stomach, and to the hem of his pants.  

“Charlie…?” 

Charlie didn’t need to be told.  He reached out and unzipped his jeans before he slid them from his hips and tossed them carefully to the ground.  He left his underwear on, his arousal creating a very large bulge that was rather intimidating for George. 

The younger’s fingers caressed once more. They touched every inch of flesh on his brother’s thighs before he danced his fingertips all the way up to toy with the sides of the older male’s underwear.  

Charlie licked his lips as he fought against a moan; it was killing him to have to hold back when all he wanted was to take George and lay him down and give him all the love he could physically and emotionally offer.  

He reached down to grab the much smaller hand that had just left his underwear and brought it to his mouth.  He kissed each digit tenderly before planting his lips against the back of George’s hand and squeezing it lovingly.  

“I love you, George...” he whispered.  He kept his eyes closed as he soaked in the younger’s warmth.  “I wish we had some music; I could make so much love to you right now…” 

George smiled shyly as he pulled his hand back.  He moved both of them to his belt, toying with the notion of undoing it and slipping his own pants off as well.  But…  _ could  _ he do that…?

“It’s okay,” Charlie whispered.  His eyes never lost that gentleness that George loved so much. “You only do what you’re comfortable with.  Even if that means I’m the only one in the nude.” 

George’s smile became more relaxed now, and it were those words that had him unbuckling his pants and pushing them away, too.  “I want to, Charlie…” 

They were both in their underwear now.  Charlie pulled the younger onto his lap again so their tongues could dance together.  George’s hips started rocking again, instinctively seeking something to grind against.  He wanted so badly to move their hips against each other so they could get off that way, but even though he was the dominant one of the two, it was George who held the reins, and Charlie had no intentions of taking control – at least, no so soon into their relationship; not until George had recovered enough to  _ trust  _ him with sex.  

“One step at a time…” Charlie murmured happily as he moved his hands to caress his brother’s thighs.  His voice was so husky with just how close to the edge he was, but he couldn’t come yet; not until George was ready for it, too.  “Only what you’re comfortable with… This is okay…?” 

George nodded.  “Y… Y-yeah…”

Their mouths conjoined once again.  Charlie’s hands dipped onto the insides of his brother’s thighs, but when he felt the muscles retracting beneath his touch and the other made to close his legs, he quickly pulled his hands away.  “Sorry, George… Not yet?”

“N-not yet…” 

Charlie’s breathing was getting heavier by the second as he moved his lips back to the other’s neck to nibble and suck again.  George bowed his head to give him better access, and the younger moaned loudly as his brother’s hands went back to caressing his sides. 

It never changed between them.  George lay placid beneath the older male’s hands as Charlie paid careful attention to his neck and sides.  He was getting closer and closer to his orgasm; his hips were bucking faster now, and his breathing was almost more erratic than Charlie’s was.  He let out a steady stream of whimpers and moans until he was finally crying out and his head was thrown backwards as the front of his underwear quickly dampened with his release.

Charlie gave a loud moan at the sight.  He kept his eyes fixed on his brother’s wet underwear as he moved his hand to slide in beneath his own underwear and stroke, nineteen firm tugs as he replayed the younger’s orgasm over and over in his mind until he also was coming hard with a rough grunt.  

They made eye contact again, George’s face flushed and sweaty as he tried so hard to catch his breath.  Finally, he gulped out, “Can I see…?” 

Charlie licked his now-dry lips as he nodded.  He didn’t move as shaking hands pulled his underwear away to reveal his spent dick and all the semen that had gathered and made him feel much stickier than he’d have liked.  

“You came a lot…” George’s cheeks flushed even further as he gave a smile crooked from embarrassment.  

Charlie chuckled.  “You do that to me, George.  May I see you as well?” 

George looked away as he shook his head and pulled his knees closer together.  “N-not yet…” 

The older male’s smile never vanished.  He pressed their foreheads together as he took his wand from beneath his pillow and cleaned them both up.  With that, he laid them down on the mattress and pulled the blankets over them, holding George tight as he put all the lighting out.  

“I love you, George,” Charlie promised.  “I love you so,  _ so  _ much.  I’m so happy you love me back.  I thought you never would.” 

George felt the butterflies in his stomach.  He nuzzled closer. “I love you, too, Charlie.  I want to be with you forever.” 

“So do I, beautiful.” Charlie kissed his brother’s forehead before he closed his eyes.  “Sleep now. We’ll need to be up very early. Goodnight, gorgeous.” 

“Goodnight, Charlie.” Once he was curled up against his boyfriend’s body, tucked safely in Charlie’s arm, George allowed his eyes to slip closed and, for the first time since he’d been back at Hogwarts, fell into an easy, peaceful slumber, his dreams only about Charlie.   


	10. Chapter 10

As Charlie walked with George through the sprawling lawns to go back to the castle with the younger, he updated George on everything he could about the First Task.  They’d walked into the castle together, intending on going to Gryffindor Tower together so George could get ready for his day. 

“And the Horntail we brought over is one we just recently got to our preserve; it’s definitely unused to humans, which is why they asked us to –“

“- _ George! _ ”  

It was his name being yelled so angrily that made George jump so high, he tripped over his own feet and hit the ground on the way down.  He yelped when a pair of feet come to his side and someone grabbed the back of his shirt, and shaking their hands off him, he moved back to Charlie’s side.

It was Fred, with Lee not far behind him.  They both looked  _ furious,  _ and George couldn’t help but look at his feet and shuffle nervously; they’d obviously gotten over their disgust of him and were mad at him now…

Fred stomped forward to close the distance between him and his twin.  He reached out to snatch the younger away from Charlie as he yelled, “George Weasley, you come away from him this  _ instant! _ ” 

“No!” George screamed as he ducked behind his older brother to get away from Fred.  “No! Leave me alone! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Don’t be mad at me, Fred! Please!” 

Fred froze.  He looked shocked for several seconds before he exclaimed, “I’m not mad at  _ you,  _ George!  No  _ way!   _ I’m mad at  _ him! _ ” 

George peeked warily out from behind Charlie.  “At Charlie…?  _ Why _ …?!” 

“Because he’s -!” 

“-  _ Don’t  _ make a scene, Fred,” Charlie warned in a dangerously low tone neither twin had ever heard from him before.  “Not here. There are people watching. If you have a problem, come and talk to me about it outside. But  _ don’t _ take it out on George; he did  _ nothing  _ wrong.” 

“I  _ know  _ he did nothing wrong because you’ve been  _ rap  _ -!” 

“- _ Fred! _ ” Charlie’s bellow echoed off the stone walls of the castle.  “Fred, don’t you  _ dare _ !” 

George cowered under Charlie’s rage; he’d never seen the other so angry before.  He tried to back away from his brothers, but Charlie reached behind him and took his hand, squeezing tightly.  “Charlie…” 

Charlie kept shouting.  “Fred, don’t you  _ dare  _ accuse me of something you don’t understand!  He is my  _ brother  _ and I love him  _ very  _ much!  I would  _ never  _ do anything to hurt him!”

“That’s why you’ve been  _ raping  _ him, Charlie!” 

There were gasps all around them that sounded deafening to Charlie’s ears.  He felt lost all of a sudden; rape…? Rape  _ George _ ?  Wasn’t this about them being  _ in love…?   _ Surely not…  How could Fred…?   _ Why…?! _

“Don’t talk about Charlie like that!” 

Charlie felt dazed; now  _ George  _ was yelling…  Hs stomach churned, and he felt as if he needed to vomit.  “…” 

“George, he’s  _ brainwashed  _ you!” Now Lee’s shout bounced off the walls, and Charlie had never felt so hurt before.  “What he’s been doing to you  _ isn’t  _ right, mate!” 

“You think I’m going to stand by and let someone  _ rape  _ you, George?!” Fred tried to grab at George again, but this time the younger didn’t move out of the way; instead, George’s fist slammed into his cheekbone.  He staggered backwards in shock; never had they  _ ever  _ hit each other… “George!  What’s gotten into –“

But the punch didn’t end there; George’s fist came flying once more and connected with his brother’s jaw.  A third time, it bent Fred’s nose to the side. 

As much as Fred loved his brother and would do  _ anything  _ for George, he wasn’t in the habit of letting people hit him and get away with it.  His own fist made contact with George’s face, and from there, the hordes of students screamed as the two rolled around on the ground, yelling and punching, with Charlie and Lee trying to separate them.  

They’d finally been pulled away from each other, Lee holding Fred’s arm to keep him there, while Charlie hugged George tight around the chest.  They continued to scream at each other, their faces bloodied and bruised and  _ swollen _ .  

“You need to stay away from him, George!” Fred screamed as he tried so hard to break free of his friend’s hold.  “Look at what he’d  _ doing  _ to you!  You haven’t been  _ right  _ since we’ve been in Romania!  Now I know why! He’s taking  _ advantage  _ of you, George!  You need to  _ listen  _ to me!” 

“He is  _ not _ !” George screamed back.  He also thrashed in Charlie’s arms, wanting to get back at his brother and throw more punches for thinking Charlie could  _ ever  _ be like that man from their childhood.  “He  _ loves  _ me, and  _ I  _ love  _ him!   _ Don’t you  _ dare  _ talk about Charlie like that!”

“Wait until I write to mum and dad and tell them what he’s done, George!  You think they’ll be  _ happy  _ to know their son has been raping  _ another  _ of their sons?!  Messing with their mind so badly to make them think it’s  _ okay  _ what he’s doing?!  That he could even  _ love  _ the poor thing?!  You don’t know what you want, George!  You  _ don’t _ !  You just want to throw yourself into the first thing you can find that makes you feel better about yourself, because you  _ sure as hell  _ can’t love your own brother like  _ that,  _ as much as he’s taught you to think you  _ can! _ ” 

“If you tell mum and dad, I’m going to hate you  _ so much,  _ Fred!  You can’t take me away from Charlie!  He loves me more than  _ you  _ ever have!  He  _ cares  _ about me more than you do!  All you do is make me feel bad about myself, but Charlie doesn’t!  He _ loves  _ me!”

“You only  _ think  _ he does!  He’s  _ using  _ you!  But you’re probably right that he loves you more than I do because how could I  _ ever  _ love someone as stupid and  _ pathetic  _ as  _ you  _ are, George?!” 

“ _ That’s enough _ !” Charlie roared.  “Fred, if you talk to your brother like that again, I’m going to come over there and kick your ass myself!” 

“What’s going on here?!”  It was McGonagall, who was rushing to the scene with a grim expression on her face.  

Fred narrowed his eyes at Charlie and hissed, “You  _ wait  _ until mum and dad find out, Charlie…  You just  _ wait _ .” 

And Charlie knew Fred well enough to know that he wasn’t bluffing.  Not at  _ all _ .  

 

* * *

 

“Mum and dad will be here any day now…  You know… To try and take me away from you…” Tears flowed down George’s cheeks as he dragged his hand along the sheets of Charlie’s bed.  They’d left Hogwarts that morning, gathered all of George’s stuff and just  _ left _ , unable to bear being back there where the whispers sounded like screaming and the looks were judgements.  “They’ll never let me see you again…” 

“I can go talk to them, George.  Make them understand that Fred doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” 

“No!” George sprang upwards so he could wrap his arms around Charlie’s own.  His tears came harder. “No, Charlie! Don’t leave me! Please, don’t leave me alone!  I couldn’t take it! I couldn’t!” 

Charlie sat on the bed next to the younger, shushing him gently as he scooped the trembling mess into his arms to hold him tight as he rocked the younger slowly.  “Hey, hey, hey, I’m not going anywhere, George; shh… Shh… Relax… You’re safe… You’re safe, George…” 

“McGonagall’s going t-to tell Dumbledore, and D-dumbledore is gonna t-t-tell our parents if F-fred hasn’t a-already, Charlie…!” George wailed.  “They’re all going t-to take m-me away…!” 

Charlie grabbed the back of his brother’s head and held the younger’s face against his chest.  “No one’s going to do anything to you; I won’t let them, George. I’ll fight tooth and nail to keep you with me, even if it means mum and dad are going to hate me for it.  I won’t let them hate  _ you _ …  But they can hate me all they want; as long as I still have you, it’s okay…  You did  _ nothing  _ wrong, George; I  _ promise _ .” 

George’s crying never stopped; not even as Charlie laid them down and pulled the blankets over them both.  He continued rocking his brother, shushing him gently until George had eventually cried himself into sleep what felt like hours later.  The sun had already set, and once he turned the lights out, he himself closed his eyes and fell into a fitful sleep.

He awoke again an undeterminable amount of time later to a lack of warmth.  He pulled the blankets tighter around him until he realised  _ why  _ he was feeling so cold; George was gone.  Dread instantly filled his chest. “George…?”

Silence.  He slipped out of bed and checked every room he passed in search of his brother.  He kept calling, the dread growing thicker by the second until he almost didn’t dare step foot from the last step on the staircase because of what he could potentially find.  

The living room was empty.  So was the laundry, the bathroom, and the dining room.  The kitchen was the last stop, and part of him hoped he wouldn’t find George in here, either.  

“George…?  Are you in here, sweetheart…?” 

When Charlie flicked the kitchen light on, he wished he hadn’t; there, right in front of him, was that same scene from his childhood, except this time, the pools of blood staining the floor around George’s unmoving body weren’t from someone else.

It was unmistakable.  With the kitchen knife still in hand, George had tried to take his own life.  The question was… Had he succeeded…? 


	11. Chapter 11

The hardest thing was sitting in the waiting  room of a Muggle hospital, sitting across from his family all gathered closely together while he sat by his lonesome, lost and heartbroken and on the receiving end of hateful glares, as if it had been  _ his  _ fault this had happened.  He’d tried to talk to them, to explain everything, but it had been useless; all it had accomplished was his mother screaming at him in front of other patients to leave them alone and never contact any of them again because they didn’t want a  _ monster  _ in the family.  

They’d even tried to keep him from going in and seeing George, pale and still and barely conscious as he’d tried so hard to gather his wits and work out where he was.  

It was Bill, ever the understanding one who didn’t believe what he’d been told, who had taken him in.  George hadn’t spoken; he’d only stared blearily at the two as he tugged dazedly at his IVs. 

“I didn’t  _ do  _ any of that to him, Bill…” Charlie wiped at his eyes with one hand as he used the other to hold George’s own.  

Bill nodded.  His eyes were sympathetic as he played with his long ponytail in his hands.  He looked over his shoulder, seeing it was only the three of them in the room together with no one else around to overhear.  “The Muggles have a way to prove if he  _ was  _ raped or not.  Maybe we could get them to check him for us – if they can show he  _ hasn’t  _ been… sexually penetrated…’ 

Charlie winced.  “Will it hurt him to do so…?” 

“I don’t know.  I don’t think so; I don’t know much about the procedure – just that it happened to a girl I used to work with, and they checked her over and proved it.  Bill stood up from the seat he was sitting in. “Let me go talk to a nurse and then mum and dad about it.” 

Charlie nodded.  He watched his brother leave, and with that, he turned his attention back to George.  He allowed his eyes to brim with tears as he squeezed his boyfriend’s cold hand tightly.  “George…? How are you feeling…?”

George didn’t respond, but he also allowed his brother to hold his hand.  His gaze never left Charlie; he only stared at the older male. 

Silence.  A long-lasting silence that made Charlie so uncomfortable, he didn’t know what to think.  He’d just started to think that maybe Fred had been right and he  _ had  _ been molesting George, that his beautiful brother surely hated him and had tried to kill himself to get away from him, but before he could think too much on it, the hospital room door opened again and Bill had returned with two nurses behind him.

“They’re going to test George now, Charlie,” Bill promised.  “It’s going to take a long time; they said it’ll be best if we sit in the waiting room; it’s going to be very confronting.”

Charlie shook his head.  “It’s okay; can I stay with him?  He’s… He’s been through a lot… He’ll need me…” 

No matter how hard the nurses tried to dissuade Charlie from staying, he was adamant.  It had been his intuition telling him he needed to stay, and he was glad he’d listened to his gut; George had struggled so much against their examining, they’d had to sedate him.  

As it stood, Charlie had stayed with him for the hours it had taken for them to complete their examinations, and finally, once the rest of his family had been called into the room so they could announce their findings, he held his breath.

“We were very thorough,” one of the nurses explained as she glanced down at her clipboard.  “We  _ did  _ find a few things, such as anal tagging and a few scars that suggest his anus has been forcibly penetrated some time throughout his life.  However, these injuries appear to be very old, and we cannot find  _ anything  _ that suggests he’s been assaulted any time recently.  We did find semen traces, but it appears to have come from the head of his penis – possibly from self-masturbation.  The area around his anus appears to be untouched, however.” 

All eyes turned to Charlie now, and as much as he knew he shouldn’t in this moment, he couldn’t stop himself from bursting into tears.  He moved into Bill’s arm when the older male wrapped it tightly around his shoulders and pulled him close, and through his tears, he forced out, “We  _ told  _ you, Fred…!  We  _ tried  _ to explain it to you and you wouldn’t  _ listen _ !” 

Fred looked to his lap.  His face was still bruised and swollen from the day previous, but even though his right eye couldn’t close properly, Charlie could still tell just how ashamed of himself he was.  “…” 

“You owe someone an apology, Fred,” Bill muttered.  “ _ Two  _ apologies, actually.  You’ve potentially ruined  _ both  _ of their lives…” 

Fred remained silent.  He didn’t so much as twitch to show that he had heard them.  Charlie shook his head. “It’s alright, Bill… He was only worried about George…” 

Bill could have ranted and raved for hours about what Fred had done, but he wasn’t going to – not now, anyway.  He looked back to the nurses. “How okay is he? Can we take him home now?” 

“Well, we’ve taken him off the blood drips and he’ll be okay physically – but it’s our duty of care to ensure he goes through mental health checks before we can discharge him; suicide attempts such as this must always be evaluated by a trained mental health professional to ensure their mental stability.” 

The Weasleys looked at each other.  If George hadn’t lost so much blood, Charlie wouldn’t have brought him here and handled it at his home, but he hadn’t had spare blood packs on hand and if he’d have tried to heal the damage through magic, George would have died.

But now that he was okay…

Bill’s hand slipped into his pocket.  “Obliviate…” 

With the nurses’ memories of George altered, Charlie unhooked the younger from all the machines before he picked him up and held him close.  “I’ll take him back to my place; it’ll be easier on him…”

No one was in the mood to argue.  Even Molly gave a solemn nod. “Right…  We’ll meet you there, Charlie…” 

Apparating with someone in George’s condition was  _ very  _ dangerous, but what choice did they have?  Charlie was just glad his brother hadn’t gotten splinched, and instead was able to be tucked safely away upstairs in his warm, comfortable bed where he could sleep for the rest of the night.  

His family didn’t take long to join him, and once they had, Molly’s arms wrapped tightly around Charlie’s neck as she sobbed into her son’s shoulder.  “I’m so sorry, Charlie…! I-I should have known you wouldn’t do a-anything like that to your brother…! I’m so sorry…!” 

“Mum, it’s okay…” Charlie shook his head.  “I’d… I’d probably have reacted the same if I was told that, too…” 

His family didn’t stay long.  Not many of them had much to say, thoughts of George on their minds, but by the time his house started clearing out and only Fred and Bill were left, Fred sucked up his pride and approached the dragon keeper, who was in the kitchen making hot chocolates for the three of them.  

“Can I talk to you, Charlie…?” 

Charlie didn’t turn around straight away.  From where Fred stood, he saw the older male’s shoulders tense and then heave with restrained sobs.  Charlie’s hand disappeared by his face for a few seconds before he turned around and nodded. He wasn’t smiling, and that’s how Fred knew he’d hurt Charlie  _ bad _ .  

“Charlie…” Fred stood awkwardly in the doorway.  He looked over this shoulder to see where Bill was, glad to see his oldest brother seemed to understand this was a private conversation and was happy to stay on the couch, occupying himself with one of Charlie’s dragon magazines.  “…Charlie, I… I didn’t…” 

“You didn’t  _ what,  _ Fred…?” Charlie had already finished with the hot chocolates, but he didn’t turn around again; he instead fumbled with arranging the mugs on the carry tray so he didn’t have to look at Fred.  “You didn’t want to hurt anyone…? Fred… Your  _ twin  _ tried to kill himself this morning because of you…  You knew, and you  _ understood  _ he was getting close with me…  We were making  _ progress,  _ Fred…!  So much progress…  I certainly don’t expect you to have been able to see it…  But  _ I  _ could…  And I was so proud of him, Fred…   _ So  _ proud…  I said to you, don’t make a scene; I’ll explain everything to you outside.  And I would have… We would have kept no secrets from you had you  _ asked  _ and not accused…  I’m sorry, Fred… But now  _ we  _ have to live with what you’ve done…  It got back to my boss, and now I might lose my  _ job _ because of you, Fred…  So I’m sorry… I really am…  But I don’t think we should talk to each other for a while, Fred…”

“Charlie…” 

A loud sob filled the kitchen.  “Come take your hot chocolate… Go sit with Bill in the living room…  You can stay here for the night… But I need you to go back to school in the morning…” 

Fred said nothing.  He walked on shaky legs to get his mug from his brother.  He took Bill’s with him, too – less stress for Charlie to worry about spilling multiple drinks on the way to the living room – but once Charlie had joined them and sat on the old armchair opposite them, he felt so bad, he could have vomited.  Charlie’s eyes were red and puffy from just how much he had been crying, and even as they sat there in silence, just the three of them, he couldn’t stop shaking. 

Charlie was hurt.   _ Badly _ .  And the worst part was, Fred didn’t know how he’d ever fix it.   


	12. Chapter 12

“Are you sure about this, Charlie?  You’ll get into a lot of trouble for me if anyone finds out…” 

Charlie looked down at George beside him.  He lowered his wand, no longer muttering the incantation he was putting up around his property that would keep Skye in and Muggles out.  He gave a tired smile, one that George  _ knew  _ was forced as it didn’t reach his eyes with heavy bags beneath them.  “George, after all this, the Ministry finding out I have a dragon on my property is the  _ least  _ of my problems…  Look at everything I’ve sacrificed for you; harbouring Skye for you is hardly the worst thing to be worried about.” 

George chewed at his fingernails as he looked back at the ratty old farmhouse Charlie had just occupied yesterday.  “I just… You’re in enough trouble, Charlie… I don’t want you to be in any more – especially for  _ me _ …” 

Charlie chuckled.  He reached out to ruffle his brother’s hair and kiss the top of his head.  “Don’t stress over it, George. Can you go and get us some lunch, please? I’ll still be here for a while longer.” 

George nodded.  He took the Muggle money that had been handed to him, not entirely sure of the unfamiliar currency but knowing that Charlie had enough on his plate without needing to worry about teaching him a foreign currency in five minutes.  “Where should I Apparate to?” 

Charlie bit at his lip.  This  _ was  _ a problem; he’d purposely moved so far out, there were no shops around for thirty kilometres.  George  _ could  _ Apparate, but as he’d missed so much of Hogwarts for his sixth year, he didn’t have his license yet – and the last thing Charlie wanted was to get them into any further trouble with the Ministry.  

“Take the car.” He reached into his pocket and withdrew the set of car keys for the old Land Cruiser he’d picked up last week, knowing he’d need to assimilate into the Muggle world as best he could.  “Can you drive?” 

“Not since dad’s old Anglia.” 

“You’ll be okay,” Charlie promised.  “You’ll hit the shopping centre as soon as you get into town.  Just don’t drive into another car you’re going to be okay.”

George didn’t want to argue, as unconfident as he was feeling about this; there was just so much happening for Charlie right now, and he knew Charlie would move mountains for him if he asked.  He nodded, and with a hand that hadn’t been shaking ten seconds ago, he took the keys. “I won’t be long, Charlie.” 

Charlie kissed his boyfriend goodbye before he turned his attention back to the spell he had been casting.  He was glad he still had George, because even though his family was no longer treating him as a rapist – for the most part – they still weren’t talking with him properly, and he felt alienated from them.  

“Skye…” Charlie sighed sadly when Skye had gotten to her feet and nuzzled against him, the dragon having gotten so big, she was almost knocking him off his feet.  He patted her around the nose, mindful of her large horn at the end of her muzzle, and continued talking to her. “I’m tired, Skye… George is tired… Everything is so messed up right now…” 

Skye dropped her front legs to the ground before she laid down once again, watching Charlie curiously.  Charlie couldn’t help but smile, so proud of George having raised the most social dragon he’d ever laid eyes on.  

“I feel like we only have each other now…” Charlie pointed his wand east now, continuing with the spell.  “Bill still talks to us, but… But everyone else has gone weird with us… Now I’ve lost the job I loved so much, and the Ministry’s kicked me out of the wizarding world and I can’t believe they let me keep my  _ wand _ …  If they knew George and I are still in contact – and  _ especially  _ if they knew I smuggled you with me – they’d probably lock me up in Azkaban.”

Skye scratched her neck with her rear leg before she stood up again and started pacing the paddock they were standing in.  It had been Skye that had made Charlie move so far out of town; his experience as a dragon keeper had all but dictated it as she needed a  _ huge  _ amount of room to herself, and trying to keep her in a tiny backyard in town would send her mad.  

Charlie watched her move around as he finally finished setting up the barriers.  He wiped at his forehead; it was rather hot out, but he’d gotten it done for George because the devastation the younger would experience if he ever lost his dragon would be too much for the both of them.  

It was a lot of work, getting back to his house from how far out in the paddocks he was.  He’d been so far out, he hadn’t even been able to see his home as he set up the spells, and by the time he’d  _ finally  _ gotten back to the driveway, he was just in time to see his brother come flying through the dirt as if he were on a race track.  He winced at the way George jerked the steering wheel around the windy parts of the driveway – and in the dirt no less – and it was then he had to remember to tell George that a four-wheel-drive was  _ nothing  _ like their old Anglia and he was lucky he hadn’t rolled the Land Cruiser or driven it into a tree already.  

He sighed as George came to a halting stop, inches away from driving through the garage door; if he was driving this badly  _ here,  _ he felt sorry for anyone who had had the misfortune of driving around him in town.  “You need driving lessons, George. I haven’t seen someone so bad since dad taught Percy how to drive the Anglia.” 

George laughed.  He passed four plastic bags to his brother as he climbed out of the car so he could lock it behind him.  “I didn’t hit anything, Charlie. I thought I did okay.” 

“With the way you came tearing down the driveway, I’m surprised!” Charlie wrapped his arm around his brother’s shoulders and held him close as they headed inside.  

Charlie didn’t have much left – not that he’d had much to begin with.  But before, his house had still been furnished and looked lived in with personal items scattered here and there.  Now, George felt sick at the fact that they were eating off paper plates on the couch, which was the only piece of furniture in the house aside from the bed.  

“I’m glad you’re here with me, George.” It was true; Charlie had really needed someone with him, but while Bill had gone back to work and hadn’t had much time to spend with him, the only other person who still came near him was George.  “I could really use someone with me.” 

George moved closer along the couch so they could press together.  He poured the bottle of coke into his paper cup as he said, “Can I just stay here with you, Charlie?  I’m… I’m really unhappy at home… Fred keeps…” 

When George trailed off, Charlie became alert.  He knew Fred had never really gotten over what was between Charlie and George – though he honestly still didn’t know as neither of them were going to tell him  _ anything  _ after what he’d done – and because of this, was still on rather bad terms with his two brothers.  

“What’s Fred doing, George?” Charlie asked gently.  

“He…  He keeps talking… about  _ us _ …  He still doesn’t understand…  He doesn’t know  _ what  _ to think…  But I’m still so mad at him…  I know it’s upsetting him that I ignore him, and I won’t talk to him, and I won’t even sleep in our room anymore…  But… Look at what he and Lee did, Charlie…” 

“I haven’t been speaking to Fred, either.” Charlie opened the lid to the container of fried rice his brother had brought back with him.  He scooped some onto his paper plate before he said, “I still love Fred… I’ll  _ always  _ love him.  But after what he did…  I just need time before I’m ready to talk to him again.  You can take as long as you need, too; there’s no rush and you just need to do what’s right for you.” 

George nodded.  He poked nervously at his own food before he said, “You don’t think… Fred will do something silly, do you…?” 

“Honestly, I don’t know, George.  But from where we are, we can’t do anything for him.  He’s our brother and we both love him very much – but with our situations, we need to look after  _ us  _ first.  I know you’re not going to like my answer, but one day you’re going to thank me for telling you this – if you choose to listen to it, that is.” 

George nodded. “…” 

Charlie had had enough of moping around feeling sorry for himself, so he nudged the younger’s side and said, “How about after we eat, we go into town and get my new place set up?”

A genuine smile crossed George’s face.  “Sure.”

Charlie smiled back.  He ate some of his rice before he said, “Bill will be back over the weekend.  Is he still staying at the Burrow?” 

“Nah, he’s been in and out of Egypt for work.  He’s been around, but he hasn’t really been staying too long.  When he’s there, he lets me stay with him. Otherwise I’ve been sleeping in Percy’s room with him, but…” his voice dropped now, “…Percy’s gonna move out soon…  And he isn’t on the best terms with mum and dad anymore…” 

“He’s still nice to  _ you,  _ though, isn’t he?” Charlie couldn’t see Percy ever turning against  _ George  _ of all people; George was about the only person – related or otherwise – who’d never been on the receiving end of Percy’s moodiness and instead had only ever had support from.  

George nodded.  “He is… But it feels like everyone is getting angry with everyone…  That’s why I want to stay here with you…” 

“You can stay here with me; of  _ course  _ you can, George.  You can stay for as long as you like.  Now eat up; we’ll go into town soon.” 

As promised, it didn’t take long for the two to get into Charlie’s car and make their way into town.  It was still a bit of a mystery as to  _ why  _ Charlie needed a car when he was perfectly capable of Apparating in and out, but then again, he supposed, Muggle London was  _ much  _ different to their own little world. 

And then, he realised something.  He turned to look back at Charlie, and with a puzzled look on his face, he asked, “Where did you learn to drive, Charlie?  From dad?”

“No, it was something we learnt back at the dragon preserves.  We’d learn to drive because sometimes it’s much easier when transporting dragons – especially a group of baby dragons who’ll knock you off your broom with the way they thrash in their cages.” 

“Don’t the Muggles need a driver’s licence?” 

“Yes.  I have one, so don’t worry; you’re in good hands with me.” There was a teasing in his tone that made George relax; the other had been so depressed lately, so it was nice to see a bit of the old Charlie shining through.  

“So what are we going to get?  More furniture?” 

“Yeah, I think so.  And maybe some household supplies; that house can do with a lot of fixing up, and I feel it’ll be good for us to do it by hand – keep our minds focused.  What do you think?” 

George nodded.  Charlie always seemed to know what he was doing, so he trusted his brother’s judgement.  “Okay, Charlie. I love you.”

“I love you, too, George.”

With that, they fell into their comfortable mannerisms with each other, and they could almost forget everything that had happened with Fred and Lee.  

 

* * *

 

It was late by the time they’d gotten into bed.  They’d changed into their pyjamas in comfortable silence, Charlie facing the door so George had his privacy, before they clambered onto the mattress together, Charlie with his arms wrapped so tightly around the younger, he had no choice but to nestle in close and inhale the other’s scent.  

They’d said their goodnights and told the other they loved them, and while Charlie had started drifting off easily, George lay awake.  Through the darkness he stared into his boyfriend’s face, his hand coming up to trace the older male’s gentle features. Charlie stirred slightly, but he didn’t wake.  

His fingers ghosted down his brother’s cheek, to his jaw, and along his neck to the collar of his nightshirt.  He leant in close to kiss Charlie’s chin, before he slid himself down the mattress slightly so he could suck softly against his boyfriend’s throat.  

In his sleep, Charlie let out a small groan.  He shifted closer, trying to get more of it, but he still didn’t wake; he just groaned louder.  

George wasn’t used to hearing the older male make noise in moments like these.  He suspected it was because Charlie fought to hold as much as he could back so he didn’t scare or make George feel uncomfortable with him.  But instead of making him nervous, it breathed life into his groin, and quickly his cock was bulging against his brother’s stomach, bigger and harder than it had ever been so quickly into the start of his arousal. 

His caressing never stopped; his hands only wandered further until they were sliding up and down his side, not daring to go any lower until Charlie would tell him that it was  _ okay  _ for him to do this.  

And then finally, Charlie awoke.  “George…? What are you doing…? What’s that pokin’ me…?”

George gasped and his hips rocked upwards  _ hard  _ as a hand wrapped around him through his thin pyjama pants.  Charlie immediately let go as he realised what he had grabbed, and he fell silent, not knowing what to say.  He wanted to apologise, say he was so sorry for grabbing George like that when he knew they had yet to touch each other there, but instead, he couldn’t even form the words on his tongue, let alone open his mouth to speak them.

“Charlie…?” George’s tone was shy.  He pressed closer so he could nuzzle his cheek against his brother’s throat.  “…Can… Can we… Can we make love...?” 

Charlie frowned.  He moved his hand so he could thread his fingers through the other’s long hair soothingly.  “…I will make love to you one day, George… But… I don’t think now is a good time…” 

“Why…?”

Charlie flinched.  He didn’t want to tell George what was on his mind, why having woken up the way he had had turned him  _ off  _ for once – but he had always been so honest with George, and he didn’t want to shut his boyfriend out.  “…Because I’ve been treated as a rapist by my own family, and am currently under investigation for said allegations…  I’m sorry, George, but I just can’t find it in me to feel aroused by anything – it might take me a while to get over all of this, and until then…  I  _ can’t _ …” 

It was George’s turn to frown now.  He never pulled away from his brother’s warm embrace, but he still sighed in disappointment.  There was an uncomfortable silence between them that lasted far longer than either of them were comfortable with, and then finally, as he dragged his fingers along Charlie’s cheek once again, he whispered, “I know Charlie isn’t a rapist…  No matter what anyone thinks of you,  _ I  _ know you aren’t, Charlie…  You’re… the only reason I  _ want  _ to make love…  Only with Charlie…  No one else…” 

Charlie smiled.  He kissed his brother’s forehead.  “Thanks, George. You’re amazing.” 

“Tomorrow…  Tomorrow, can we go into Muggle London again, Charlie?  It was really interesting…” 

The older male nodded as his eyes slipped closed.  “We can do whatever you want, George. Tomorrow, we need to find me another job; all my savings from the dragon preserve won’t last me long at this rate.  What do you think, George? Can you see me as a shopkeeper?”

George laughed loudly now.  He shook his head. “No way.  You need to work with animals, Charlie.  Otherwise you wouldn’t  _ be  _ Charlie if you did anything else.” 

“Go look for my body; someone’s been drinking Polyjuice Potion with my hair in it.” Charlie chuckled softly.  He held George close as he gave a peaceful sigh. “Goodnight, sweetheart…” 

“Goodnight, Charlie.” With that, George finally fell asleep as well, his dreams pleasant ones.  


	13. Chapter 13

“Fred needs somewhere to stay, Charlie.”

Charlie bit at his lip.  He looked across the living room at George, who was curled up in his favourite chair with a blanket around him and a mug of hot chocolate in hand as he watched the Muggle TV Charlie had bought not long ago.  He looked so happy, clearly not listening to the conversation, and it made Charlie frown; shouldn’t George have a say in this, too…? After all, they were living together…

“George.”

George looked to the side at Charlie’s voice.  He smiled happily at Bill and Charlie. “Yeah?”

Charlie swallowed.  He glanced back at Bill before he said, “Bill wants for Fred to stay with us for a little while…”

The younger’s happiness was wiped from his face.  He frowned at his lap, his fingers twitching. “…But…  We haven’t…” 

Bill’s gentle voice cut through the uncomfortableness like a knife.  “Fred has been homeless for some time now, George. Lee Jordan’s mother says he can’t stay there anymore, and she wants him out.  He doesn’t have anywhere else to go, George.” 

George felt sick; Fred…  _  Homeless?!   _ “…W-why…?” 

“He dropped out of Hogwarts.  Mum flipped out at him for it, and there was a huge row, and…  Well, he’s been staying with me when he can, but… It’s too hard with my work, and being so far away…  I’m worried about what’s going to happen to him, George.”

“George still hasn’t gotten over what happened,” Charlie explained softly.  “Nor have I, to be honest…”

“It’s been a year, and you two have cut contact with everyone,” Bill pointed out.  “When was the last time either of you saw any of our brothers? Or our parents? Ginny?  It’s been a  _ year,  _ guys; it’s time to forgive.  He needs your help.” 

“ _ I  _ was homeless because of Fred,” Charlie pointed out.  “I lost everything. My home; my possessions, my job – almost my  _ wand,  _ Bill, and I’ve been exiled for something I haven’t even done.  I didn’t see  _ Fred  _ raising his hand to volunteer to help me – he didn’t even tell the Ministry it had all been a mistake on his part and he _ still  _ hasn’t backed George or I up!  They can still take my wand, Bill…  Do you know how  _ humiliating  _ it is to be forced to live amongst Muggles…?  Like you’re some third-class citizen or something…?”

Bill frowned.  “Charlie… He was a  _ kid _ .  He still  _ is  _ a kid.  Look… I understand he’s hurt you both…  But look at where he was coming from. If I didn’t know you so well, Charlie, I’d have probably thought the same as he did.  He was young, and he was worried; please, don’t hold it against him. He’s paid for his mistake; I  _ promise  _ you that.” 

Charlie looked to George.  He closed his eyes, waiting for his brother’s response.  “…”

“If Fred comes here…” George licked his lips, “…will he… call Charlie a rapist again…?  Charlie’s just moved on from that…” 

Bill shook his head.  He offered a reassuring smile.  “He knows better; he’s learnt his lesson.” 

George shared a look with Charlie, one that was so full of emotion, Bill couldn’t even begin to decipher it.  Finally, they shared a nod together, and the younger looked back to his oldest brother and said, “He can stay...  But we don’t want him to bring up anything that’s between us…” 

“That’s very fair,” Bill promised.  He stood up and stretched. “Come on, George; where’s your dragon at?  How you two have kept her hidden this long still amazes me.” 

A grin crossed George’s face as he also got to his feet.  “Charlie built her a huge pen, like the ones they use at the preserve.  She likes it in there; she only comes out to hunt or when I’m outside.”

George led the way outside, where he walked them to the back of the house so he could point out the giant stone dwelling off in the distance.  Sure enough, there was no hint of dragon anywhere else.

“What about when the Ministry comes to check?”

Charlie gave a wank.  “They can’t investigate what they can’t see, Bill.” 

Bill grinned back.  He ruffled George’s hair.  “I’ll go and get Fred from Lee’s place and get a bag packed for him.  I’ll be back with him around dinnertime, okay? Umm… Though George… Please do keep in mind he’s feeling very fragile, and it won’t take much to break him…  You understand. …Don’t you?”

George nodded.  “You want me to talk to him again…”

“Yes.  He  _ needs  _ someone, George.  …He needs  _ you _ .   You know he’s never been good at being apart from you for long – a year has really taken its toll on him, George.   _ Really  _ taken its toll.” 

“…I…”

“Don’t stress over it,” Bill advised.  “You couldn’t have done anything to change it in your situation.  I want to leave here on a happy note. Tell me; how are you two doing together?” 

Charlie wrapped his arms around George and held him firmly against his body.  He nuzzled his face against his boyfriend’s hair and said proudly, “We finally made love together, Bill.  He did great through it. I’m so proud of him.” 

Bill, the only one in the entire family – the only one in the  _ world  _ – who knew that his brothers were romantically involved, grinned so widely, his smile stretched to the sides of his face.  “I’m so happy to hear that! I was starting to get worried George would never be able to have sex – and when you were telling me how many times you’ve  _ tried  _ and he just…  He  _ can’t _ …  Oh, George, I’m so glad!” 

George’s face flushed red with embarrassment.  He looked away as he muttered, “It wasn’t just  _ me  _ with the issues, Bill; Charlie was having his own, too…”

Charlie nodded in agreement.  “It’s true; between me feeling like I  _ had been  _ molesting George, and George being – well,  _ George _ …  But we got there in the end, and that’s all that matters.” 

Bill nodded.  “You know I support you two.  It’s, well… It’s very… I don’t  _ advocate  _ what you two have…  But I  _ know  _ you two love each other very much, and that’s all that matters to me.  George is  _ very  _ happy, and that’s what’s most important.”

“He’s happy because he’s spoilt.” Charlie nuzzled his nose against his lover’s ear affectionately.  “Sweetheart, let’s go back inside; it’s too cold for you out here. You’ll make your flu worse.” 

“Charlie, I’ll head off and get Fred ready.  I’ll see you both soon.” 

Charlie nodded.  He ushered his lover back inside so he could wrap him back up in his blanket and settle him in front of the TV he enjoyed so much with his half-drank hot chocolate that was in danger of going cold very soon.

“I’m going to do some housework, darling.” Charlie leant down to kiss his brother’s temple, fearless of the other’s flu.  “Get some rest.” 

George smiled as he nodded.  He wiped at his nose as he turned his attention back to the TV, letting Charlie wander off on his own.  It didn’t take long before his eyes had closed and he was fast asleep for the rest of the day, waking only for dinner once Charlie had shaken him awake gently.

“Charlie…” George rose up from his chair slowly.  He rubbed his watery eyes before he murmured, “Wha’s wrong…?”

“Dinner’s ready, love.” Charlie brushed stray hair from his lover’s eyes.  “Bill and Fred are here, too. They’re in the kitchen. How’s your fever?” 

It was his brother’s groan that had Charlie pressing the back of his hand to George’s forehead.  Charlie frowned as he felt how hot the younger was. He’d opened his mouth to tell George to go have a cool shower and try to get his fever down, but before he could do so, the other murmured something unintelligible.  

“Sweetheart, stay where you are; you’re burning up.” Charlie pressed down on the other’s shoulders.  “I’ll get a wet rag and bring your dinner out to you.” 

George closed his eyes again as sweat rolled down his forehead.  He tugged his blanket tighter around him to fight off the chill that was making his body tremble so much, even though he could hear the fire crackling away in the fireplace next to him.  

“C-c-char…lie…” 

“Oh, George…” It was Bill’s voice he recognised, and George cracked open his eyelid to look at his oldest brother.  He frowned as he caught sight of Fred behind him, his twin looking as if he were ready to cry. 

He hadn’t cried in a long time, George thought to himself as he went into a coughing fit.  He felt arms wrap around him as a warm body pushed into the tiny space of his armchair beside him, and he didn’t need to look to know that it was Fred next to him.  The last time he had cried was maybe… Not quite a year ago, but getting close to it, and it had been because he’d missed his family so much… 

But he hadn’t cried in a long time now; not since he’d moved in with Charlie, and Charlie had helped him get better – not because they’d became boyfriends; he was certain he’d  _ still  _ be the same miserable wreck even as boyfriends but the only reason he wasn’t was because Charlie  _ understood  _ him and knew how to  _ help  _ him whereas the rest of his family just… treated him as fragile goods…  

“Georgie…” 

George didn’t hear whatever Fred had to say to him; oblivion took over him once again, and he was dead to the world for the rest of the night.

“Are you sure, Charlie…?” 

Charlie turned around at Fred’s uncertain voice from behind him.  He’d been tidying up his bedroom so he could unpack his brother’s suitcase while Fred made himself comfortable in the bed.  He continued folding his and George’s clothing as he looked at Fred. He wasn’t smiling, but his voice still held the softness he was known so well for. “Yes.  You sleep here for the night; we can work out proper sleeping arrangements tomorrow.” 

“What about you and George…?” Fred clenched the blankets tightly as he looked to his lap.  “I mean… Sorry… Please don’t yell at me…” 

“I’m not going to yell at you,” Charlie promised.  “You know I would  _ never  _ yell at you unless it was incredibly serious.  I’ll sleep with George on the couch. It’ll be fine; we’ll fit.  Are you tired? I can put everything away tomorrow instead if you just want to go to sleep.” 

Fred nodded.  “Sorry… You can keep cleaning if you want to; I…  I might fall asleep anyway…”

“No, it’s alright.  I’ll leave you be. Goodnight, Fred.”

“Night, Char…” 

There was no,  _ I love you  _ like there usually was whenever it came to Charlie.  Fred felt horrible; a year later and Charlie was  _ still  _ hurting over what had happened…  He shouldn’t be surprised, though; he  _ had  _ ruined Charlie’s life…  

But even all this time later, it was still something he couldn’t get out of his head; there was something between the two of them – he just didn’t know  _ what _ .  

He knew he was a horrible, selfish and  _ petty  _ person for the way he was opening the bedside drawers, as if he’d find answers to his questions if he went through his brothers’ belongings.  He sort of  _ did _ find answers, too; like at the old house, there was lube in the drawer, but this time condoms accompanied them.  

It was weird that Charlie – definitely Charlie; George didn’t have sex, or at least he wanted to believe so – someone who wasn’t – supposedly – in a relationship, had gone and bought a packet of condoms when he shouldn’t have been with anyone since the last time he had gone through the drawers.  

Charlie had turned the light off on his way out, and Fred didn’t want to raise any suspicions.  He withdrew his wand and illuminated the room with it as he searched deeper through the drawers.  He briefly thought that whatever girl Charlie had been sleeping with was a lucky woman as he picked up her vibrator, but that thought vanished when he grit his teeth and thought about snapping the vibrator in half.  

He put it back where he’d found it before Charlie worked out he’d seen it, but that didn’t stop him from sifting through more belongings.  He was starting to feel sick the more he found; he’d never taken Charlie to be so kinky, but here he was, with so many different kinds of sex toys hidden in his drawers, he didn’t even know where to begin.  

There was a fleshjack, that made dirty images of his brother flash through his mind and put colour to his otherwise pale cheeks.  There was a douche next to it, one Fred figured Charlie used to clean his girlfriend before whatever it was they did together. More lube, that seemed to be marketed mostly for numbing (why Charlie would need that for a vagi – for a  _ girlfriend  _ he didn’t know…).  There was another curved, rigid item that almost resembled a penis Fred couldn’t recognise, and some beads connected on a string.

“Stupid Charlie and his stupid girlfriend…” Fred didn’t even bother going through anything else now; his mood had turned sour once again.  He’d forgotten all about the possibility of George being abused here and instead was now focused on Charlie’s girlfriend, hating her without ever having met her, or even  _ heard  _ of her.  

He grumbled to himself as he slammed the drawer shut and climbed back into bed, too angry to sleep without really even knowing  _ why _ .  Why did it matter that Charlie had a girlfriend?  A girlfriend he was… He was  _ kinky  _ with…?   It wasn’t  _ supposed  _ to matter!  Charlie could fuck whoever he liked, just like  _ Fred  _ could!  …Though he couldn’t say he’d  _ had  _ sex to be completely honest; as much as he’d  _ tried,  _ he just…  He’d never gotten much further past groping…  

He’d always put it down to the trauma of his twin having been raped and seeing the end result.  He’d never thought too much about it; he’d just tried to work past it – but no matter how many times he thought he was finally over it and could move on from those images in his mind that would forever haunt him, he’d get his pants down and free his aroused cock, but before he could slide it home, he’d just…  He’d shut down. 

How could Charlie do it, he wondered.  Charlie blamed himself – truthfully, it  _ was  _ his fault it had happened – and Charlie had been the to find George.  …But obviously he had healed enough to have kinky sex… 

Fred sighed, and he tried to force himself into sleep. The only problem was, it wasn’t coming easily for him.  


	14. Chapter 14

When Charlie came home from work the next night, he had been worried about what he was going to find; between George being so ill and Fred being left alone with him, he’d stressed all day about what kind of cruel words Fred might say to his twin – but when he walked in through the front door and found the two curled up together on the couch, fast asleep, his worries vanquished; at least for the moment, Fred was only interested in being with George again.  

“Boys…” Charlie murmured as he shook their shoulders gently.  “Boys, wake up. Have you two had dinner yet?” 

Fred was the first to rouse, and from beneath the warm blanket that George loved so much, he stretched.  He blinked sleepily at the older male as he muttered, “I made dinner… There’s some for you, too, Char…” 

“Thanks, Fred.  George, wake up…  Wake up…” 

“He’s been asleep all day, Char…  He hasn’t been well… I don’t feel so great, either…” 

Charlie sighed.  “You’ve probably caught flu off him; you know you shouldn’t be so close to him while he’s sick.” 

To an outsider, it may have seemed that Charlie was being cold and heartless to Fred, but the twin knew better; for as long as he could remember, Charlie always echoed their mother’s words whenever he’d caught George’s sickness because he just couldn’t stay away.  Fred gave a weak smile, the first upward twitch of his lips since he’d been here with his brothers. 

“He’s eaten, hasn’t he?” Charlie felt relief swell in his chest once Fred nodded.  He straightened his back and started walking to the kitchen. “I’m going to eat; work was draining today.” 

As promised, Charlie ate his dinner quickly in the dining room before he came back to the living room and took George’s armchair.  He turned the TV on, though he didn’t watch it and instead grabbed the book he had been reading from the coffee table in front of him.  He’d opened it and read half a page before Fred gathered his attention.

“What do you do for work, Charlie?” 

He closed the book, and after careful consideration, he decided there would be no benefit in ripping Fred apart verbally for forcing him into another profession.  “I work at an animal shelter now. I look after abandoned animals and try to find them new homes.” 

Fred nodded.  He’d been quiet for so long now, Charlie had thought the conversation was already finished, and he picked his book up again.  

“Charlie…?”

Charlie sighed.  “Yes, Fred?” 

“…Do you like that job…?” 

Charlie couldn’t keep the scathing response from his lips.  “Well, I certainly liked working with dragons a lot better, but yeah.  Yeah, I do like this job, too.” 

Fred flinched.  He looked to his lap.  “Sorry…” 

“Sorry?” Charlie threw his book back onto the coffee table so he could focus his full attention on Fred now.  “You could have stopped it getting this far. You could have explained you were mistaken – that you had accused me wrongly.  But you hadn’t. You were interviewed and you stuck to your story. I’ve been deemed a danger by my own kind, Fred. Even now, you could go to them and explain everything – have me acquitted of all this.  Maybe then I could get my friends and my family and my  _ life  _ back.  But I’m not holding my breath, Fred.  Don’t worry about it; maybe one day I’ll get used to having to live as a Muggle, leaving  _ everything  _ behind.  Even my own  _ identity  _ as a wizard.” 

Fred opened his mouth to reply, but he stopped when a loud chime rang through the house.  He looked at the roof, trying to find what it had been. “What’s that noise, Charlie?”

“Doorbell.” Charlie stood up, wondering who could be knocking on his door so late at night.  “I’ll be back in a second.” 

When he answered the door, he was surprised to find one of the women he worked with standing on his doorstep, holding a sheet of paper as she smiled at him.  “Our hours were changed, and boss asked me to give you our new roster – since you don’t have a phone or anything.”

“Oh, thank you.” Charlie took the paper with a smile, but when his co-worker continued to stand there, he cleared his throat uncomfortably.  He liked her well enough; she was a nice person, and they got along just fine – the only problem was… Charlie didn’t like females, and he already  _ had  _ someone he loved dearly.  …But his mother had never raised her children to be impolite.  “Umm… Would you like to come in for a drink?” 

She’d planned it out, he knew.  She’d probably volunteered to be the one who drove so far out just to see him, too…  But Charlie was a good host, just like he’d been raised to be, and he’d showed her into the living room where he sat her down on the armchair he’d been occupying just moments ago.  

While he was in the kitchen making hot chocolates, he could hear Fred talking with her.  His tone was unusually rough with her, though he wasn’t  _ saying  _ anything rude.  But even so, Charlie could tell; Fred didn’t like her one bit.     

She hadn’t stayed long, seemingly to both Charlie and Fred’s pleasure (George was still asleep, having not so much as even stirred).  But even though she was gone, Fred was still irritated, and he couldn’t help but snap at Charlie completely out of the blue an hour later, as if he’d been stewing on it and couldn’t keep it in any longer.

“She’s your  _ girlfriend,  _ isn’t she?!” Fred had followed Charlie upstairs, Charlie having gone to brush his teeth and put his pyjamas on so he could relax.  

Charlie almost dropped his toothbrush.  “What? No; I work with her, Fred. I don’t  _ have  _ a girlfriend.” 

“Bullshit!” Fred pointed to the bedroom across the hall from them.  “ _ She  _ likes  _ you;  _ even  _ I  _ could see that!  That’s why I found her stuff last night!” 

A genuine, puzzled expression crossed the older male’s face now.  He cocked his head to the side, trying to work out what Fred was talking about.  “What stuff? What do you mean? If you’re talking about underwear, I’ve  _ never  _ had female underwear anywhere  _ near  _ me, let alone in my house, Fred.” 

“Not  _ underwear! _ ” Fred’s arms waved dramatically in the air, and his face flushed as he tried to force his words out.  “T-the… The… The  _ things _ !” 

“The things?” 

“Yes!   The things!”

“What things  _ where _ ?” Charlie put his toothbrush back in his holder.  “Show me what you’re talking about; I don’t understand, Fred.” 

Fred growled.  He led the way back into the bedroom, where he pointed accusingly at the bedside drawers as he gave it a glare so foul, Charlie was wondering if it had been bewitched through the night and offended him somehow.  “ _ Those  _ things!” 

As soon as Charlie opened the drawer to see what his brother was so upset about, he laughed.  The first genuine, hearty laughter Fred had heard from him since… since  _ that _ .  “Those aren’t mine, Fred, and they  _ certainly  _ aren’t my  _ girlfriend’s _ .” 

“Liar!  Then who would they belong to?!  Certainly not  _ George _ !” 

Charlie laughed harder, and his eyes glinted with joy as he gently patted the younger’s cheek.  “They  _ aren’t _ mine, Fred.  I’ve used them on someone else, sure.  But they don’t belong to me. Take from that what you will.” With that, he was gone, leaving Fred to stand there in confused anger, feeling as if he was losing his mind.

Why did it matter so much  _ who  _ Charlie slept with?  Fred groaned at himself.  As long as he wasn’t hurting anyone…  

But, for reasons he just couldn’t understand, the idea of Charlie sleeping with anyone at all hurt his heart so much, he wasn’t sure he could take much more of this.  


	15. Chapter 15

It was no longer an unimaginable thing for George and Charlie to be in the same room together, on the bed so close to each other, their bodies rubbed together with every movement they made as they did their own thing in silence.  Tonight, Charlie had a book open as he laid on his side, George laying against him on his back as he moaned quietly and thrust upwards into his fleshjack.

It had become a normal occurrence between them – usually with Charlie lending a hand and holding whatever toy George wanted to use while he focused on a good book.  Charlie knew people would never understand if they knew; they were both male, and they were  _ brothers _ .  They slept together every night, they made love on occasion, they were so deeply in love with the other, and yet they could lay in the same bed together, one of them masturbating so arousingly, yet the other could ignore it with only a slight hard-on.  

It was the trust between them that allowed for this to happen, Charlie was certain, because even though he’d been the one to introduce George to toys and help him grow into a sexually-functioning – for the most part – young man, it was still only Charlie (and maybe Fred, but it had been so long since they’d seen him, Charlie couldn’t be sure) who could get near to George and put his hands on the younger without him cowering.  

It was the back of his shirt being tugged at that had Charlie rolling over so he could see what it was that George needed.  “Yes, George?”

He was answered by the press of lips against his own, and Charlie’s eyes closed as he melted into the kiss.  He abandoned his book on the edge of the mattress so he could instead roll onto his other side and hug his lover against him as their kiss deepened until the room echoed with the wet sounds their mouths made together. 

When George pulled away as if he’d been burned, Charlie almost panicked.  He cupped his lover’s cheek and stared concernedly into the other’s eyes as he whispered, “Did I scare you, sweetheart?” 

George shook his head.  There was fear on his face now as he looked at the door.  “Fred’s  _ definitely  _ asleep, isn’t he…?” 

Charlie licked his lips.  He leant across the younger male to open the bedside drawer and pull the douche out.  He gave George a wink as he passed it to him. “I daresay he will be, George. I’ll go and check; you clean up and I’ll play with you some more.” 

George’s face flushed as he accepted the item.  He nodded as he turned it over eagerly in his hands; they didn’t make love often, but whenever they were about to, his heart would speed up in his chest and he’d feel breathless from both love and anticipation.  

Charlie closed the door fully behind him once he was standing on the upstairs corridor.  He made his way through the dark house, his feet soundless against the hardwood floor, until he’d arrived in the living room and was standing over the couch with the end of his wand lit.  

Fred was fast asleep, but with how cold the winter was, he was probably going to freeze to death now that his thin blanket had slipped off his form and onto the floor instead.  Charlie disappeared for a few seconds and returned with the heaviest blanket he had been able to find. He draped it over his brother and tucked him in tight, ruffling his hair – reminiscent of when they’d all been younger and their relationships hadn’t been damaged by  _ jealousy _ .  

“Goodnight, Fred…” Charlie leant down to kiss the younger’s temple.  “I love you…”

And it was true; no matter what Fred had done to him, Charlie would always love his baby brother.  

His feet took him back upstairs and into his bedroom, and he only waited half a minute for George to return as well.  

“All nice and clean, George?” Charlie smiled when he received a shy nod in response.  He sat on the edge of the bed so he could reach into the drawer and pull out the black prostate massager his brother was so fond of.  “Great. Let’s play together.” 

As promised, Charlie allowed George to sit on his lap.  He drew the younger into another deep kiss as he slowly dragged his hands down George’s body and to his sleeping pants, tugging at the waistband suggestively.  

“Charlie…” George closed his eyes as he felt his shirt being tugged away from his body.  He gave a pleasured whimper when warm lips wrapped around one of his nipples, and as a hand slid down his rear to encircle his entrance, he shuddered and moaned.  

Charlie smirked against the younger’s nipple as he slid in two fingers at once, dry and with minimal resistance.  “You’re already so loose; what were you doing before I came up here to read? Were you playing with yourself here while I was out checking on Skye?”

“Hnngh…” George pressed himself down further onto the invading fingers.  

Charlie slipped his hand silently beneath George’s pillow, and when his fingers clasped around what he had expected he would find, his smirk widened.  He pulled out the vibrator, still with a fresh condom around it, and he waved it in front of George teasingly. “You were going to use this, weren’t you?  Were you going to wait until I was asleep before you brought it out? Naughty, naughty; there’s enough here for us to share.”

George groaned louder, and his already-straining arousal twitched; he was going to need relief soon enough, but he wanted it to be by Charlie’s hands, whether it involved sex or not.  “C-charlie…”

The ex-dragon keeper had learnt George well through their relationship, and slowly but surely, he had gotten his brother comfortable with dirty talk.  He pulled at the condom still wrapped tightly around the vibrator. “Are you sure you want to keep using these, George? I’d love nothing more than to one day fill you up~”

George gave a full-body shudder as desire ran down his spine.  Sure, he’d like to try that, but at the same time, he still wasn’t sure he was ready to have his body treated so disgustingly as that man had all those years ago – and not to mention the  _ risks _ !  He liked being clean and free of any diseases – not that  _ Charlie  _ had any either, but still…  He never had been able to get over the possibility of having been left with something as a child that hadn’t been caught previously…

“C-charlie…” George closed his eyes, and he groped blindly for his brother’s arousal.  

Charlie stayed silent as thin fingers wrapped around his clothed bulge and squeezed, despite the way he was twitching like mad. He allowed himself to be stroked for several minutes before he murmured, “I guess this means you want to use the vibrator instead of the prostate massager.  I’d wondered where it had disappeared to.” 

George cracked open his eyelid.  Spittle dribbled from the corner of his lip as he muttered back, “I want the vibrator, Charlie…  P-please… Inside me…”

The older male chuckled.  “Lay on your back for me, beautiful.” 

George scrambled to do as he was told.  He rested his head on his soft pillow as he opened his eyes now to watch the way Charlie was kissing from his lips, down to his throat, both of his nipples, his belly button, and finally, just above his arousal.  He licked his lips before he groaned and murmured, “Charlie, no… You know I… don’t like that…” 

Charlie understood the unspoken words.  He reached to his side and dipped his hand into the bedside drawers so he could resurface with the box of condoms.  He took one out and pulled it from the packaging so he could gently pull it over George’s cock.

“Yes; not without this on, you don’t.” With that said, Charlie swallowed his brother whole as he pressed the vibrator to George’s entrance, rubbing it in circles in a teasing manner.

“Unngh…” George tossed his head to the side.  He groaned loudly as he felt the first push inwards, and he relaxed to accommodate it; he trusted Charlie, and he knew his brother would never try to hurt him on purpose.  The older male’s name left his lips like a small flutter of wind. “Charlie…” 

Charlie was still clad in his own clothing.  His pyjama pants were tight and uncomfortable, but he had no intention of doing anything tonight; as hard as he was, as long as he could get George off – a notoriously difficult ejaculator – he was going to be happy.  

* * *

 

It was when he’d seated the vibrator fully inside his lover and tilted it to press against where he knew the other’s prostate to be did George finally remember about Charlie.  He reached out, trying to grab the older male again. “Charlie… Come here… I can… I can touch you, too…” 

Charlie shook his head.  He pulled his mouth from George and said, “I don’t want any pleasure tonight, George; I’ll be happy just to see you finally come.” 

“But you’re hard…” George squeaked loudly as the vibrator was turned on, and his body spasmed with pleasure.  “C-c-charlie…! Y-you’re hard, too…!” 

“I know I am, sweetheart, but I’ll be okay.  I’m not really in the mood to make love tonight.  I’d rather just watch.” 

A comfortable silence fell between them, broken only by sounds of pleasure.  Charlie was sure they’d finally almost gotten George over the brink of pleasure, but completely out of the blue, the younger gave a loud scream and Charlie panicked, not sure if he’d hurt the other or scared him or what – but as soon as he’s grabbed George’s shoulders and tried to calm him down and his lover pointed to the doorway did he understand; there, with a shocked expression on his face, stood Fred.

Charlie didn’t know what to do.  He knew there was no other option except for him to tell the truth – but how did he admit it to someone who had accused him of being a  _ rapist _ …?  He turned the vibrator off and pulled it out as quickly as he could without hurting George, and with that, he pulled the blanket over him.  

No one said anything.  It could have been hours they stared at each other for.  George trembled, looking only at Charlie as he knew his big brother wouldn’t let Fred tell him how disgusting he was for this, how much of a freak – a… a  _ disgrace  _ he was for doing this with family…  Likewise, Charlie’s arm had wrapped around his brother’s shoulders and held him protectively as he maintained eye contact with Fred, having no idea what to expect.

When Fred spoke, they were words Charlie had least expected to hear.  He murmured softly, almost in disbelief, “You really  _ do  _ love him…” 

Charlie looked to George, back to Fred, and then he gave a stiff nod.  “Yes, Fred. I would have told you this a long time ago had you let me explain everything.” 

Fred fumbled with his hands.  He looked away awkwardly, and from where he stood, Charlie had the perfect angle to see just how aroused the other was.  “…How long…?” 

“How long have I loved him?” He used a flat tone now, one void of emotion he felt Fred had no right to hear after what he had done.  “I have loved George since he was fourteen years old.” 

“But you’re…” Fred gestured awkwardly. 

“Twenty-four?” Charlie shrugged.  “So what? I love George, and George loves me.  Despite what you think about me, Fred, I have  _ never  _ done anything to George he didn’t like or  _ want _ .  I’ve  _ never  _ pushed him into anything; I’ve never  _ rushed  _ him, and I’ve  _ certainly  _ never  _ raped  _ him, Fred.  Did what you walk in on  _ look  _ non-consensual to you?” 

Fred shook his head.  “…”

“Because it  _ wasn’t _ , Fred!  It’s  _ never  _ been non-consensual with us, and you should  _ know  _ this!  You should know  _ me _ , Fred!” 

Fred flinched; well, Charlie wasn’t wrong there…  His fumbling became worse until he finally mumbled, “…How long have you two… been together…?” 

“Not long before you accused me of being a rapist…” 

“…I…  I didn’t…  I didn’t  _ know _ …”

Charlie sighed.  He waved his hand to gesture the younger closer.  His voice softened. “Holding a grudge against you isn’t going to change what’s happened, Fred…  I’m sorry for yelling at you… Now come here. Why are your pants tented like that?” 

Fred turned his hips away from his brother’s prying eyes.  He frowned. “…I dunno…” 

Charlie raised an eyebrow.  “I daresay watching George and I got you a little…  _ excited _ .  Am I wrong?”

It was clear by the rushed way Fred spoke that he was lying through his teeth – though, to be honest, Charlie had a feeling he believed his own words.  “Of  _ course  _ you’re wrong!  I…! I’m  _ straight _ !” 

“I’m sure you like girls to some extent, Fred,” Charlie agreed gently.  “But if you were one-hundred percent straight, you wouldn’t be as hard as you are.  Come here.”

From where George was still hiding behind Charlie, he looked up when he felt the mattress dip with extra weight.  He said nothing as Fred joined them on the bed; though he’d never spoken about it with Charlie before, he knew there had always been the possibility of Charlie potentially loving Fred the same way – especially as he had, several times previously – spoken about how he often masturbated to the fantasy of the twins making love together.  

Well, if Charlie wanted that fantasy to come true, he supposed he wouldn’t really mind making love with Fred…  

“Charlie, no!” 

George’s eyes left Charlie to turn back to Fred, and he watched the way his twin recoiled from Charlie’s hand on his hip, with a look of horror on his face.  

“We  _ can’t _ …!” George couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen his twin look so hopeful, yet so devastated at the same time.  He wanted this, George knew, but for whatever reason he was holding himself back from it. “We’re  _ brothers _ !  We’re family!  We’re… We’re  _ boys! _ ”

Charlie shrugged.  “Doesn’t stop George and I.  Can I be honest with you, Fred?” 

Fred hesitated, but he soon gave a tiny nod.  “…”

“I’ve always said to Bill that I thought you two would grope each other one day.” Charlie smiled at the thought.  “Bill didn’t think so. But… It’s my favourite thing to think about when I wank. George, laying on his back while you push yourself inside him and get ready to make love to him…  Him crying out your name…” 

George felt his wilting erection come back to life at the mental image.  He’d never really thought of Fred in such ways before, but if Charlie wanted so badly to se it… 

Charlie smirked when he saw the way Fred’s sleeping pants shifted with his twitching arousal.  “It’s okay, Fred. You can touch. I’d _ like  _ you to touch, as long as it’s okay with George, too.  I’m willing to let you be with us. Physically… Emotionally…  Mentally… It’s  _ okay _ .”

Fred swallowed thickly.  He looked at George for several long seconds before he reached out his hand in silence and extended it towards his twin.  It was the fact that George  _ cringed  _ that had him frowning and he whispered, “He doesn’t want me touching him…” 

“He’ll let you touch,” Charlie promised.  “You know he won’t let  _ anyone  _ use him like that – not unless they  _ love  _ him.”  

Fred understood the hint.  He moved to sit next to George, and leaning across the younger male, he held his face so close to the other’s, their breaths mingled.  They stared into each other’s eyes before Fred took the chance to raise his hand upwards and hold the back of George’s head as he pulled his twin in for a kiss.

George hesitated when their lips connected, but eventually, he parted his lips and closed his eyes as he relaxed into his twin’s kiss.  He melted even more when he remembered Charlie was watching them, and when he heard the wet sounds coming from the oldest male’s direction that signified he had  _ finally  _ released himself from his sleeping pants, he groaned.  

Fred pulled away.  His hand moved to hold George’s cheek while his thumb caressed the edge of his mouth.  His eyes held nothing but concern as he whispered, “Is this okay…?” 

George nodded.  He looked over to Charlie, and upon seeing the way his brother was stroking himself slowly, he relaxed further; this was okay – this was  _ all  _ okay.  

“Georgie…” Fred twitched in nervousness.  He gulped when his twin’s eyes fixed on him.  “…I… Can I… t-touch you…?”

George nodded.  He leant back and gripped the bedsheets beneath him as the older male grabbed at his arousal that had, by now, been up for almost an hour.  He whimpered. “F-fred… I n-need to come…” 

Fred nodded.  He pushed his pants down and kicked them off before he did the same to his brother, leaving them both clad only in their shirts.  He grabbed George’s thighs and pulled him so close, his legs wrapped around Fred’s hips. He took both their erections in one hand and stroked them together, unable to process everything that was happening properly; he’d always liked girls, but somehow, having watched his brothers fool around had made him harder than he ever had been, and for the first time in his life, he knew what he was doing with his hands.  

It had always been awkward for him to be with girls; he’d tried  _ so  _ hard to be with them, but…  It had just never worked out.  He’d never thought of being with another guy, though, not even when George had confided in him once that he liked other guys instead of girls.  The thought of his twin, whether he would be the top or the bottom in whatever relationship he would enter may have briefly crossed his mind that day, but he’d never found himself  _ aroused  _ by the same sex.  

And  _ Charlie _ !  …Regardless of what had happened between them, he’d always thought Charlie was straight…  

“Do it, Fred.” Charlie’s grip on himself had tightened, and his stroking was now a quick pace.  He grunted as his legs vibrated. “Make love to him. Do it.” 

Fred flinched.  He knew how it worked with  _ girls,  _ but…  This was completely new territory for him…  He frowned. “C-charlie, I…”

Charlie stood up in an instant.  He moved to the bedside drawers so he could get the lube and grab a condom from the box he had left carefully by their pillows earlier.  In a gentle tone, he murmured, “Always use protection with George; he’s still a bit funny with semen. He’s already prepared, so lube yourself up and enter him gently.” 

Fred took the condom package, but when he opened it, he frowned again.  “Charlie, this will be too big for me…”

“I know, Fred, but really; George  _ really  _ hates semen.” 

“It’s okay…” George winced at his own words.  A shudder ripped through him. “I… He doesn’t… have to wear it…  I just… J-just don’t… don’t… umm…”

“Don’t come inside of him, Fred,” Charlie finished, despite knowing Fred already knew the unspoken words.  

Fred nodded.  He whispered, “I won’t, Georgie…” and then leant down to cover his twin’s body with his own as he crushed their lips together and slowly slide inside the tight warmth he’d never felt before.  

It was amazing.  He’d never felt something so tight and warm around him before, and he was glad that George seemed to be able to handle him being inside because if his brother needed time to adjust to him, he wasn’t sure he’d have been able to wait.  His thrusts came in short, shallow bursts as he desperately needed release, and it seemed George was in much the same state as they’d been at it for a minute and already he was a sweaty, breathless mess who seemed to be growing louder and louder with each thrust.

It was when he came, in long wet spurs, did Fred groan at the feeling of the other’s walls contracting around him, milking him to his release.  He tried so hard to make it out in time, but his muscles were too lax, and he was almost kept in place throughout his entire climax. He’d pulled out, but not before a good portion of his release filled George up and the rest of it dripped hotly against his entrance. 

From beside them, Charlie’s loud groan alerted them to his own climax, and despite how badly he just wanted to lay down and close his eyes, he still jumped into action when he saw the way George curled in on himself, with a distressed expression on his face as his body folded into a ball that reflected just how helpless he probably felt in this moment.  

He took his wand from beneath his pillow, and with one swift motion, he had cleaned all three of them up.  He shushed George gently as he laid on his back and pulled George in tight against him, holding him in one arm protectively as he used the other to thread his fingers through his brother’s soft ginger hair. 

“I’ll be going then…” It was Fred’s nervous voice that had Charlie looking back at the other.  He’d just got up from the bed and was tiptoeing to the door when Charlie’s firm voice stopped him.

“No.  Stay. I told you, I’m happy to let you be with us – and if you think I’m going to let you do that to George and refuse, you’ve got another thing coming.  I didn’t ask you for a one-night stand, Fred. I don’t let people take my boyfriend the way I let  _ you  _ do so – not unless they’re also part of our relationship.  Now get up here and get some sleep; it’s going to be cold downstairs anyway.” 

Fred hesitated, but he did as he was told.  He climbed back up onto the bed and slipped beneath the blankets.  He didn’t get near Charlie, though; he moved to the very edge of the mattress and listened to Charlie gently soothing George until they had both fallen asleep, leaving Fred to follow their examples some time later.

When he would awake in the morning, however, he’d wondered if it had been Charlie who’d pulled him close through the night, or if he’d crawled to his brother in his sleep and nestled in close, like a baby animal seeking its mother’s comfort.   


	16. Chapter 16

In the year that had passed since he’d last seen George, Fred knew his twin was doing better than he could have ever imagined.  The older twin stood outside in the snow, wrapped tightly in one of Charlie’s snow jackets as he watched his brothers with Skye, the dragon in a bad mood and blowing steam at them through her nostrils as her clawed front feet took swipes at them.  

George was taking it in stride, though, obviously excited for the challenge, and Fred had to admire how far his twin had come; two years ago, he’d probably have broken down in tears at the thought of his dragon not listening to him anymore.  But here and now, his eyes shone excitedly as he backed away from a particularly close swipe before he went back in to take control again. 

“Don’t let her take dominance, George,” Charlie instructed from the other side of Skye, waiting close by to intervene if it looked like things were going to get particularly nasty.  “She’s a dragon; now matter how well behaved she’d been so far, she isn’t a puppy and if she thinks she’s leader now, you’ll have no hope.” 

It was interesting to watch the way they went about trying to get control over the dragon again.  Fred had never really thought much about it, about what went into taming these dangerous beasts – well, as much as they _could_ be tamed, anyway – and watching this really made him appreciate the fact that Charlie was still alive and well because if Skye was giving them this much grief, he could only imagine the danger Charlie had been in while working with wild dragons. 

He had no idea how they’d done it; one second Skye seemed as if she wanted to kill them all, and the next, George was hugging her muzzle, rubbing his face against the horn that could impale him in the blink of an eye.  He cocked his head to the side, but while Charlie explained that Skye would have fallen into a breeding cycle by now and was going to be very grumpy for a while, Fred allowed his thoughts to run rampart.

He’d been living with his brothers for a little over a month now.  They had some sort of triad relationship, but Charlie had never told him anything about it other than the night he’d talked Fred into sleeping with George.  

He didn’t  _ feel  _ very wanted or loved in whatever they had together, though; instead, he felt more like Charlie only kept him around so he could get himself off to watching the twins have sex together.  He’d never really had any sexual or romantic interaction with Charlie – actually, he barely had  _ any  _ interaction at all with his older brother unless Charlie wanted to watch him again. 

Whatever Charlie and George had together, though…  He was jealous. Blatantly jealous. He was known to break plates if his brothers so much as shared too long a glance with each other.  He’d yell and throw a fit whenever their hands would touch behind his back, trying to hide it from him. At one point he’d even threatened them both with his wand when he’d found them in the bedroom together, in the middle of intimacy  _ without  _ him.  

He supposed it had to do with the fact that he was still trying to wrap his head around everything, and he  _ had  _ spent a long time convincing others that Charlie was a rapist and George his victim.  Maybe he still couldn’t get that idea out of his head? Maybe he’d convinced  _ himself _ of this…

But it  _ couldn’t  _ be right; he was usually involved in sexual activities between them, and from what he had personally witnessed, either Lee Jordan was right about the Stockholm Syndrome, or Charlie was  _ too  _ good a manipulator, a sneaky,  _ sneaky  _ bastard, because George sure didn’t  _ look  _ as if he were being raped.  

“Fred?  Are you alright?” 

Fred blinked as George’s hand waved in front of his eyes.  He frowned. “Go suck Charlie’s dick some more, George. Leave me alone when I’m being so quiet on my own.”

George took in a startled breath; where the hell had that come from?  He looked over his shoulder at Charlie, wanting to get his brother’s help, but at the same time knowing he needed to stop being so dependent on everyone else to fight his battles for him.  He looked back to Fred. “You know I… I don’t do that, Fred… I don’t  _ like  _ su… S-su…  I don’t like to do that…” 

“Of course not; you just like getting everyone else to do it for you.” Fred turned his back now, and he considered going back to the house where he could curl up on his own somewhere and hide away from the others.  He didn’t intend on saying anything else, but when a hand grabbed his shoulder, he whirled around and punched his twin in the cheekbone, just like George had that day he’d tried to tell everyone the truth about Charlie.  “Don’t fucking touch me, George! That’s for  _ Charlie  _ to do, and you  _ know  _ it!”

George stared back in hurt silence.  He didn’t understand if Fred meant Charlie was supposed to be the one to touch Fred, or if it were some sort of dig at his relationship with their older brother – but whatever it was, it  _ hurt _ .  “…” 

“Fred, get back!” 

Fred leapt backwards when a breath of fire was aimed at him from Skye, the dragon most likely seeing George as one of her brood and allowing no danger to come to him.  He listened to Charlie instructing George to calm Skye down so he could talk to Fred on his own, but he didn’t want to talk; he wanted to be left alone. 

“Fred, don’t you  _ dare  _ hit your brother like that!” Charlie grabbed the younger’s shoulder as well when Fred tried to leave, and when a punch was aimed at him as well, he caught the other’s wrist effortlessly before it could make contact; working with dragons for so long had made him a force to be reckoned with, and Fred knew he would never be able to get a one-up on his dragon-scarred brother.  His voice softened now that it was just the two of them, and he asked, “What’s bothering you so much, Fred?”

“ _ You. _ ” The words sounded harsh to Fred himself, despite having been the one to speak them.  His eyes filled with rage, and he couldn’t stop himself from lashing out. “You let me stay here with you two and ask nothing of me.  No housework, or anything like that. You bring me into your relationship; you make me  _ fuck  _ my own  _ twin  _ so you can watch.  …You… You  _ tell  _ me you want me as part of your relationship…  But…”

Charlie reached out to wipe away the tears that were quickly brimming from his brother’s eyes.  He frowned; he knew this conversation was going to arise one day, and it seemed that Fred was finally ready to talk about it with him.  He looked over his shoulder to see how George was doing with Skye, and once he was pleased to see them both enjoying the other’s comfort, he Apparated he and Fred into the living room so they could sit by the fire.  

“But what…?” Charlie whispered.  He stroked Fred’s hair, letting the other take his time to come up with his next sentence.  

“…But I feel as if neither of you love me…” Fred looked to his lap.  He knew he was pathetic. Pathetic for being so upset over something so stupid.  Abhorrent, for finally admitting out loud – admitting to  _ himself  _ – that he  _ did  _ want them to love him like they loved each other.  But worst all of all… He felt  _ weak  _ and  _ helpless  _ for admitting that maybe he wasn’t as strong as he had always made out to be.  “Neither of you…  _ look  _ at me…” 

“Don’t be silly.” Charlie went back to wiping Fred’s tears away.  His tone was stern, but there was still a kindness to it Fred would forever be able to recognise.  “Of  _ course  _ we look at you.  You’re still here with us, aren’t you?  And I daresay you just punched George because he looked at you and he saw something you didn’t want him seeing.  We look at you. We look at you  _ a lot _ .” 

“I don’t feel like you do…” Fred sighed.  “I feel like you only love George, and I’m just along for the ride because I look like him…” 

Charlie shook his head.  He took his brother’s shoulders in his hands and shook him lightly.  “Fred. You. Of  _ all  _ people.   _ You  _ know you and George are your own persons.  Just because you two  _ look  _ identical doesn’t mean you  _ are _ .”

“But…” Fred let a frustrated noise escape his lips.  “That night… You said you’d loved George since he was fourteen…  But you never mentioned  _ me _ …” 

“Fred, you didn’t  _ ask  _ if I loved you.  You directed the question about  _ George,  _ and I responded appropriately for said question.” Charlie let out a fond sigh as he brushed hair from Fred’ eyes.  “You really  _ are  _ silly sometimes, aren’t you?”

Fred held his breath as Charlie started murmuring now, extending his arms to wrap around Fred and hug him tight.  “…”

“You silly, silly goose…  Do you know what question you should have asked instead?” 

Fred clicked on quickly.  “How long… have you loved  _ us _ …?” 

Charlie’s smile finally reached his eyes for the first time when it came to Fred this past year, and he leant down to  _ finally  _ plant the kiss on the other’s lips Fred hadn’t known he’d been wanting for so long.  “I’ve loved you both since you were fourteen years old. And I know what your next question is going to be, Fred;  _ well, why do you only think about  _ George  _ and not  _ me  _ when you wank?   _ You’re a smart boy, Fred –  _ very  _ smart.  I was certain when I told you that night that my favourite thing to think about is you making love to George, you would have understood my feelings run deep for you  _ both _ .  No, it’s not some disgusting fantasy I only have because I have a fetish for twins…  It’s a fantasy I have because I love nothing more than seeing the two people I love most, making love together and  _ enjoying  _ it.  And when it comes to  _ George _ …!  Do you  _ know  _ how many times I’ve had to stop halfway because I felt so guilty thinking about him in that manner?  Fred… I couldn’t think about you as well and hate myself for it…” 

Fred threw his arms around in the air wildly as he exclaimed, “But you don’t…!  You don’t…!”

“I don’t  _ touch  _ you?  I’m doing so right now, aren’t I?  Massaging your shoulders in a manner I’ve only ever shared with George…  I don’t  _ kiss  _ you?  What did I just do then?  How could I give you my love, Fred, when you don’t even love  _ yourself?   _ When you can’t  _ admit  _ to yourself that what you feel for  _ me,  _ at the very least, is a little more than just brotherly.  You’re even having a hard time admitting you might not like  _ girls  _ as much as you thought you did.  I  _ do  _ love you, Fred.  I love you so much.  But how could I ever do something to you that you aren’t the  _ slightest  _ bit comfortable with?  What you said about me that day at Hogwarts…  You couldn’t have been  _ more  _ wrong…  I have never shared intimacy with you because I knew you were still having doubts about me and what you  _ want  _ from me.  I don’t want to influence you, Fred.  I don’t want to scare you, or rush you, or  _ pressure  _ you.  I want you to come to your decision about what you want from me on your  _ own,  _ and let me know from there.  And to be honest, Fred… I think you’ve come to your decision, and I think you’ve said it loud and clear.” 

As their lips crushed together hungrily, tears rolled down Fred’s cheeks.  He kissed back desperately, as if his life depended on their tongues pushing as far into each other’s mouths as they could get.  He let out a moan that sounded as if it were mixed with a sob, and he moved closer to Charlie to press their warm bodies together.  

When they broke away, Charlie looked deep into Fred’s eyes as he whispered, “I told you long ago; you are  _ jealous  _ of George.  Jealous that he had me, and you felt as if you were left behind.  Even that long ago, you wanted me. You just didn’t know it. But you have me now.  And like I told you; if you’re going to make love to  _ my  _ boyfriend, the least you can do is join our relationship as well.” 

Fred sobbed again.  He wiped at his eyes.  “I-I thought you just… You only kept me around…  So you could watch George and I together…”

“Shh…  Of course not, Fred.  Never for something like  _ that _ .  I don’t  _ believe  _ I ever pushed you into sleeping with him; I believe you always had the option to say no if you wanted to, and I would have let you go and never brought it up again.  But I  _ asked  _ it of you, because I knew it was the only thing I could have done to help you  _ understand  _ – if I had touched you myself, Fred…  We  _ both  _ know what would have happened there.  But just like I tell George; you can  _ always  _ say no, any time you want, for any reason.  He’s told me no several times. He’s told me to stop, right as I’ve been on the verge of climaxing.  And I’ve stopped for him. I would certainly stop for  _ you,  _ Fred.   _ Always _ .” 

Fred nodded.  His face was red from tears, and he snuggled in closer.  “I’m sorry… I’m sorry I was such a prat… I’m so sorry… S-so sorry…  I… I want to fix it…” 

Charlie sighed.  He held Fred close as he whispered, “I’m afraid by this point, there might  _ not  _ be any fixing you can do…  It may be too late for that…  But I certainly would love to have my relationship with my little brother repaired; there’s still time.  We can work through this. Together. The three of us. What do you say?”

Fred nodded.  He buried his face against the man’s scarred chest.  “I’m sorry, Charlie… I’m sorry…” 

“Shh…” Charlie held him close, rocking him gently.  He didn’t startle when George Apparated before him; he only raised his finger to his lip and nodded his head towards Fred.  George nodded back, and in silence he went upstairs to take his snow gear off and have a shower. Charlie never stopped rocking Fred, not until the younger was fast asleep in his lap, and  _ finally,  _ things looked like they were on their way to being repaired properly.  

 


	17. Chapter 17

“George, are you ready?”

From where George had been pulling his hand out of one of the cages in the cattery, he looked up to grin at Charlie.  He smiled at the man behind his brother he recognised to be the boss of the animal shelter Charlie worked at, and though he couldn’t make eye contact with the man, the other didn’t seem to mind as he smiled back, too.  

“Is it home time already?” George was disappointed; it was his first day of doing volunteer work for the shelter, and even after twelve hours of playing with cats and dogs and other abandoned pets (to have seen a goat for the first time took him by surprise, but the rabbits had been absolutely adorable), he still couldn’t get enough of it.  

Charlie nodded.  He tugged his jacket tighter around him to fight away the chill, and he stayed quiet as his boss said, “You’re very good with animals, George; just like your brother.  Do you have any pets?”

“I have a dragon.” He didn’t mean it.  He was still so used to his own wizarding world that sometimes he forgot he had to be careful about what he said to Muggles.  He blushed scarlet and looked away at the quizzical look he was given. “…”

“Lizard.” Charlie, as always, was on the ball.  “He has a lizard. He named it Dragon. He likes dragons – well, we both do, to be honest.” 

“That’s great.” The brothers received a warm smile.  “Your brother is amazing with animals, George – does an unbelievable job with the injured ones, too.  I see you share Charlie’s love of animals, as well.” 

George’s eyes shined brightly at the compliments, and his cheeks flushed scarlet again.  “Thank you.”

“Okay, I’ll let you two head off home.  Have a good night, guys.” 

Charlie hummed happily as he led his brother from the shelter and outside to the car.  It was late, and the sun had long set. He looked to his watch and he hummed, “Do you think Fred has eaten anything yet, George?” 

It was past nine, and George couldn’t help but frown.  “I hope so.” 

“What do you say to some KFC for dinner?  We can get something for him there, too.” It had taken a long time for Charlie to adjust to living as a Muggle, and though it certainly wasn’t easy for him and he still slipped up at times, he was coping.  He’d learnt what the Muggles made their takeway out of, and though it upset him to know where his food was coming from, he still had yet to learn of any vegetarian options for his takeaway. 

George nodded.  “I want nuggets, Charlie.” 

Their drive home was peaceful as it always was.  The half-hour it took to get back was well-spent listening to music and talking happily as they made their way along the deserted, darkened country roads that would eventually take them to their driveway.  

It was the conversation at hand that had Charlie taking his attention from the road as he felt pain in his chest at George’s words. 

“…And mum yelled at Fred, said he wasn’t allowed to come back until he got the idea of a joke shop out of his head and he went back and finished school.” George frowned as he recalled his weekend trip with Fred to see their family – minus Charlie, who still wasn’t sure he was ready to go back himself.  “She said she wanted him to leave, but Bill was there, and Bill told her that just because we want to do something different with our future doesn’t mean we’ll fail at it, and if we don’t have mum backing us, we’ll still have Bill.” 

Charlie let out a breath of relief.  “Thank god Bill is the best big brother anyone could ask for…”  

George nodded in agreement.  “Well, mum flipped her lid at Bill next – said to him that if he supported us and our ‘nonsense’, than he was as bad as us.  We don’t know if he argued back with her because Fred and I went upstairs to our room. We were up there maybe an hour before Bill came in and said he thinks the family could do with getting back together, and that he’d talk to you and see if you’d host a dinner for everyone.” 

Charlie tapped at his chin.  He didn’t much like the idea of seeing his parents again after what had happened, but his siblings certainly hadn’t done anything wrong, and it would be wrong to take his anger on his parents out on them instead.  He dropped the car into a lower gear now that he was letting it roll towards a stop sign at the upcoming t-intersection, and he took his time in looking for oncoming traffic as he thought about George’s words. 

“I don’t know, George…  We’re still fixing things with Fred…  I don’t know if I have the emotional energy to have to deal with more fighting in our home…” 

George looked out of his window as he felt the car starting to move again.  He hummed. “Why are you still upset with mum and dad, Charlie? I thought they believed you after the nurses proved you didn’t do anything to me.” 

It was a good question, Charlie realised.  One he hadn’t really thought about himself.  He cocked his head to the side as he changed to fifth gear.  “…I’m not sure… I guess… I guess I still feel a little hurt they could ever doubt me in the first place…  You know, out of our entire family, Bill was the only one who stood by me, George. The only one in that hospital waiting room who  _ didn’t  _ give me filthy looks and make me feel like a rapist…  I suppose I feel as if they should have stood by me unwaveringly as well, and they didn’t…” 

George could understand; he’d had the same experience with Fred – his own  _ twin _ …  

They fell silent again, each thinking deeply, until they’d gotten down the driveway and parked out the front of Charlie’s garage.  They got out of the car, George carrying their dinner, until they’d gotten inside and into the living room to find Fred on the couch, the TV playing softly in the background as he fiddled with something so small, Charlie couldn’t make out what it could be.

“Fred, we have dinner.” Charlie didn’t hesitate to get behind the couch so he could lean down and wrap his arms around the younger tight.  He tilted the other’s chin backwards so he could kiss him happily, and when his lover’s mouth open and give him access, he smiled wider. Their kiss didn’t last for long; not since George had quickly separated their meals and gathered their attention.  George, also, got a kiss from his twin, and with that, they all settled down to eat until Charlie’s voice broke the silence.

“So, Bill thinks it’ll be a good idea for everyone to come and have dinner with us, Fred.” Charlie wasn’t the only one who looked displeased by the idea; Fred had winced.  “I know… I don’t really want to, either…” 

“Mum thinks we’re stupid for not wanting to work at the damn Ministry…” Fred sighed.  He tightened his grip on his chicken tender for several seconds before he tossed it angrily back into the box.  “We’ll show her, though… Once Georgie and I can get the funding… We’ll be the most popular shop in all of Diagon Alley!” 

Though Charlie’s smile remained, inside he winced; if the twins were to open shop back in Diagon Alley, he didn’t know if he’d be able to visit them – sure, he still had his wand, but he’d been all but exiled, and if the Ministry found out he was wandering around there again…  “You guys still want to open that joke shop, then.” 

Fred nodded.  “Of course, Charlie; we’ve wanted this since we were kids.  We just… We just need the money…” 

Charlie’s hands started to shake.  He looked between the twins before he sighed and whispered, “Are you going to leave me…?”

Fred and George shared a look before George put his food down and moved to curl up on his older brother’s lap.  “Charlie… We love you… But we’ve  _ always  _ wanted this…  Please, don’t take it personally…  Please don’t try and take it away from us like mum does…  You don’t understand how important this is to us…” 

Charlie nodded; how could he be so selfish right now?  He should be more like Bill and  _ support  _ them since they knew what they wanted for themselves and had the nerve to go for it.  “Sorry… I just… You’ll both still come and visit me, won’t you…?” 

Again, the twins shared a look.  Fred fidgeted, and anxiously he said, “Actually, Charlie…  We had no intention of… Of going anywhere. George and I have already spoken about it; we’d get George his Apparition license, and we’d just Apparate into London and get to Diagon Alley that way.” 

Charlie felt light all of a sudden.  He let out a deep breath. “Oh… Oh, boys, don’t do that to me again…  I was going to have a heart attack, thinking I’d lose you both…” 

From where he was sitting on his brother’s lap, George snuggled in close as he shook his head.  “Of course not, Charlie.”

“We love you, you know?” Fred added on.

“Even if you –“

“- Snore like a bloody dragon.”

The oldest of the trio laughed loudly.  “Sorry. Should I invest in buying you both ear muffs for bedtime?” 

“Nah.  Because then we’d –“ Fred started.

“-Never get to hear –“ George continued.

“-The way you talk in your sleep about us,” the twins finished together, before adding on as afterthought, “because you love us so much.” 

Charlie raised his eyebrow.  “Are you two sure you don’t communicate telepathically?  That, or you both have been rehearsing that last bit.” 

“Of course not, Charlie.  We aren’t telepathic.” 

“We’re just Gred and Forge.” 

Finally, Charlie was in good spirits enough to start eating once again.  They’d finished their meals, had their showers and dressed in warm pyjamas, and once they were all gathered in the living room by the fire, doing their own things, he announced, “I think we’ll have a family dinner one night soon.  Is that okay with everyone?” 

Oddly enough, everyone agreed.  


	18. Chapter 18

Charlie always looked forward to coming home so he could be with his brothers, so when he’d finally parked his car out the front and gotten all his grocery shopping inside and on the kitchen counters, the first thing he did was go upstairs and seek out the twins.  

As expected, he found them in the bedroom together, but the most unexpected thing was to see them on the bed together, the two on their sides as they laid head-to-toe, their pants thrown carelessly onto the floor as they held each other’s hips and bobbed their heads slowly, taking their time in suckling at the other.

Charlie’s breath caught in his throat, and he fought back a moan as he felt his pants tightening.  He’d watched Fred suck George off plenty of times before, but he hadn’t thought George would return the favour any time soon.  He moved closer. 

The wet smacking sounds of their sucking filled the air, and his breathing became heavier.  He stood by the bed and, mesmerised by the scene before him, he extended both hands and slid them down the twins’ sides.  Their skin rippled beneath his touch, and his breath caught in his throat. He wanted to roll them over and make love to them both, but the problem with having two lovers was that sometimes it was hard to know who to take.  

He settled for moving his hands to wrap around the bases of their cocks and pump them into each other’s mouths.  His lips parted with a silent groan as the two moaned loudly at the actions. 

“How long have you two been up here without me?” Charlie didn’t mind at all that they’d started without him; they had free reign to do as they pleased with each other, with or without his company – and besides, nothing turned him on more than walking in on them like this with each other.  

As expected, they didn’t pull their mouths away to answer.  They continued suckling, slowly and gently, almost like baby animals nursing off their mother.  Charlie’s eyes wandered their bodies. He noticed the way George’s arousal was much darker in colour, an angry red he knew to be a sign that his brother had been hard for quite a while before this occurred.  Another thing to catch his attention was the lack of condoms – never before had George allowed even the slightest intimacy between them without one on. He grinned.

“No condoms, George?  I’m glad. You’re clean.  We’re all clean. It’s safe.” 

George’s eyelid cracked open so he could look at his big brother.  He gave a slight nod before he turned his attention back to Fred. 

“S-shit…” Fred let out a groan as he clawed at his face in ecstasy.  “G-george… I’m close…” 

George pulled away, and with red, swollen lips he looked lustfully at Charlie and panted out, “I-I w-want to s-see you h-have sex with him.” 

Charlie didn’t need to be told twice; he grabbed Fred’s hips and rolled him onto his back so he could take the lube George was handing him and prepare the older twin.  He knew Fred was ready to burst, so he didn’t take his time in preparing the younger; instead, he worked three fingers in gently and scissored for a minute before he lubed himself up and positioned himself between Fred’s legs. 

“F-fred…” 

Fred cocked his head back to look up when he heard George’s pitiful whimper.  He panted heavily as he accepted the vibrator George wanted him to take, and while he winced and groaned at the painful entry Charlie made, he turned it on and gestured for his twin to come closer.  He knew what his brother wanted; he had watched Charlie and George enough times to have learnt their likes and dislikes, and one thing George  _ really  _ liked was having the vibrator used against his cock while being fingered.  

While Charlie waited for Fred to adjust, he busied himself with kissing all over his body, every inch of skin he had access to he suckled and nipped at until he was sure he had kissed everywhere he could.  He took Fred’s mouth with his own, kissing so deeply, he wasn’t sure he could get much farther down the other’s throat if he tried. Fred kissed back eagerly, and with his free arm he wrapped it around Charlie’s shoulders and pulled him closer so that their chests were pressed together as their tongues danced.

George didn’t mind that Charlie wasn’t kissing him.  He and Fred had always been like that; they’d never been jealous of something they could share, and it was what he had come to learn about Charlie, too; Charlie’s utmost intimacy was reserved for whoever he was making love to at the moment, as the ex-dragon keeper viewed sex as something so precious, he couldn’t bare to not give his partner his fullest attention.  

“F-fred…” Charlie nipped at the younger’s lips.  “Are you ready, baby…?” 

Fred nodded.  He whimpered at the twinge of pain that moved up his spine, but he forced himself to stay relaxed; Charlie would make it unbearably pleasurable for him any second now, and he just had to be patient…  

From where he sat by their heads, George watched through half-lidded eyes the way Charlie moved so tenderly, it was clear there was nothing but love in every movement he made.  His hips rocked slowly, gently, as he stroked his hand repeatedly through now-short ginger hair, his lips kissing all over Fred’s face. 

Fred held him tighter, and from where he had been fondling with his brother’s rear, he finally found what he’d been searching for and slipped his fingers inside the already-slick entrance, looking for the spot that would make his brother feel as best he could in this situation.  Just like Charlie, he found his brother’s sweet spot in seconds, and he felt his climax only coming harder at the way George cried out loudly and bucked his hips, unable to withstand the onslaught of pleasure that seemed to be coming from all angles. 

If Fred wasn’t so close, Charlie would have taken his hand from Fred’s hair and caressed one of George’s nipples instead, but he needed that contact with Fred; he needed to be solely focused on the one he was making so much love to as Fred came because of  _ him _ .

“C-c-charlie…!” Fred threw his head to the side and he groaned loudly as his hips started bucking desperately.  Charlie moved his free hand from where he had been holding himself upwards so as to not crush the younger, and he instead slipped it between their bodies to stroke Fred sweetly as he laid completely atop the younger.  

“Come for me, Fred,” Charlie purred.  His nose nuzzled the side of his brother’s neck as he whispered again.  “Come for me. I want you to.” 

Fred whimpered as his body fell still and Charlie felt his skin warm from the sticky liquid that was quickly splashed onto his stomach.  He laid where he was, unmoving except for both of his hands, now stroking Fred’s hair and the side of his face as they stared into each other’s eyes.  

They stayed like that for a good minute until Fred had caught his breath.  Charlie gave him one last deep kiss before he pulled his still-hardened self from the younger and crawled up the bed to George, who now sat neglected since Fred had all but forgotten him. 

“Come here, sweetheart…” Charlie patted his lap, and George climbed on eagerly.  Their arousals bounced together, and once they had shared a kiss just as passionate as the ones with Fred, he pressed their foreheads together and whispered, “Do I need to wear a condom today or is it okay…?” 

George shook his head.  “It’s okay, Charlie…” 

Charlie wasted no time.  He grabbed the youngest’s hips and lifted him up so he could guide him down on his erection.  He stayed still so George could control the rest, letting him lower himself at his own pace. He grabbed his brother’s cheeks and kissed him senseless until he was finally all the way in, and once George gave a slight rock of his hips to say it was okay, he started moving.

His pace with George was no different to how it had been with Fred; the only difference was that he grabbed George’s cock immediately to try and bring him to completion sooner lest they be here another hour still trying to get him off.  

George’s moans were soft, gentle like Charlie’s thrusts.  They were music to Charlie’s ears, and he wrapped his arms tight around his brother’s upper back to hold him against his chest as they moved together.  

“Oh, George…” Charlie gave a pleased sigh as he felt himself nearing the edge.  “Oh…” 

It was a handy thing that George suffered delayed ejaculations – as sad as the reasoning behind it was – because it meant that, while Charlie would outlast both of them together under normal circumstances, he could usually come with George instead of being the last one still aroused, getting himself off as his brothers rested around him.  

George hid his face against Charlie’s shoulder and bit down as he himself knew he was about to come.  He whimpered loudly.

As soon as Charlie felt the other’s walls begin to contract around him, he pulled out and raised George higher, so that he could give himself a few last strokes until he was coming heavily onto the bed sheets beneath them rather than all over his brother.  

They panted together before Charlie laid George next to Fred, and he could kiss the younger once George’s lungs had refilled.  He looked lovingly at the twins, caressing their heads simultaneously as sweat rolled from his forehead. “I love you both so much.”

“We love you, too,” came the response, perfectly in sync.  

Charlie grinned.  “I’m going to have a shower.  Once I get out, can you have one as well and then come help me in the kitchen?  I’m going to get started for our dinner; everyone’s going to be here – and if mum catches even the faintest whiff of sex, you know how she’ll be.” 

The twins laughed.  They relaxed together, their hands conjoining as they still battled to catch their breaths.  They watched Charlie leave, and once the bedroom door had shut behind him, they shared a deep kiss of their own.  

 

* * *

 

As expected, the only person who hadn’t arrived for dinner was Percy – and Charlie knew the story behind  _ that  _ shit show.  Still, he said nothing about it; he only greeted his family with hugs and kisses, trying so hard to make things work.

The dining room wasn’t big, and the dinner table even smaller.  In the end, they dragged the table outside next to the outdoor one, and thankfully, there was just enough room for everyone.  Things were almost going peacefully, until…

“Have you boys organised going back to Hogwarts to finish your studies?”

Charlie gave a helpless look to Bill, who only sighed and dropped his face in his hands. 

The twins shared an uncomfortable look with each other.  “…”

“Actually, mum, they have something else planned…” Charlie knew the reaction he was going to get, but he had said it anyway; hopefully if at least  _ Fred  _ could keep his mouth shut, there wouldn’t be any yelling…  “George helps me with my work, and Fred is working towards a goal for them both.”

Molly’s nose wrinkled in disgust, and while Arthur just gave a tired look at his wife, she said loudly, “He is  _ not  _ opening a joke shop, Charlie!  I would think you’d do better than to  _ encourage  _ them with that!” 

“Of course I encourage them with it, mum; it’s what they want to do.” Charlie was calm, but the same couldn’t be said for Molly.  “If they want to open a joke shop, they can open a joke shop.” 

“Their  _ education  _ is more important than stupid practical jokes!” Molly pointed to the twins, who were now looking anywhere but her as they gripped their cutlery tight.  “They need to go back and finish so they can get a good,  _ respectable  _ job at the Ministry!”

Charlie’s thumb pointed at himself, and then Bill, and then waved back and forth between them.  “Actually, Bill and I never worked for the Ministry; does that mean  _ we  _ have terrible jobs?” 

Molly sputtered.  “N-no! Of course not, honey!” 

“So why’s it bad for the twins?  They want to do what they want to do, mum; I back them on this.  They’re going to stay with me, and they’re going to do what they want to do, even if I have to give them the money to do it.” 

“You will  _ not  _ give them the money to throw their futures away, Charlie!  Tell them, Bill! Tell them how they should all be more like you!” Molly was livid, but before she could say anything else, Bill had stood up. 

“Mum,  _ really _ .  We were having a nice dinner together.  I’m really tired of this… I’m done. I’ve tried to help, but I just…  Fix your problems yourself for once instead of leaving me to do it for you  _ every  _ time there’s an issue.”

The rest of the family stared in disbelief at Bill – the Bill who was always so calm and had the patience of a saint, but now seemed to have been worn so thin, he’d had enough.  

Molly gaped at her oldest son for several seconds before she said, “Bill, what are you saying?  Talk some sense into Charlie, won’t you? He’s as stubborn as Fred! He’s not listening to me, but he’ll listen to  _ you,  _ Bill.  Tell him –“

“-No, mum!” Bill’s tone was sharper than his family had ever heard it be.  He left his chair and moved to where Charlie, Fred and George were sitting together.  He gave the three of them his tightest hugs as he glared at Molly and said, “I’m not getting involved in this anymore!  This isn’t  _ between  _ Charlie and I!  This is between  _ you  _ and whatever you have going on in your head!  I’ve  _ tried  _ to help!”

“Bill, you’re upset!  Sit back down and we –“

“- _ No _ , mum!  I’m going home!” His tone softened as he turned back to his three brothers now and said, “Charlie, I’ll talk to you again soon.  Fred and George, behave yourselves. I’ll see you both later.” 

It was when Bill Apparated from the house did Molly give a cry of despair.  She pointed at Charlie, and in her accusing tone all of her children knew so well, she exclaimed, “Now, look, Charlie!  You’ve upset Bill!” 

Charlie gave a loud groan and, just like Bill had minutes previous, he threw his face into his hands.  “Mum…! Mum, you  _ know _ I love you, but you  _ really  _ need to keep your nose out of your kids’ business!  You do it with  _ all  _ of us!  Just let Fred and George grow up and be themselves!  They’re eighteen! They  _ know  _ what they want!  All it is is that  _ you’re  _ scared of change!  But there’s no need to be, mum!  Honest! So what they don’t want to work at the Ministry?  They aren’t a clone of  _ Percy,  _ mum, and I’m  _ glad  _ they aren’t.  They want different things and you need to respect that!” 

While Charlie and Molly were having a yelling match, Arthur leant across the table and tugged gently at George’s sleeve, trying to get his son to unblock his ears so he could speak to him.  “You boys want to open a joke shop?” 

Fred gave a hesitant nod, but George only plugged his ears harder, trembling as he expected for his father to scream at him next; he never had done well with shouting, and this was quickly fraying his nerves.  

Arthur glanced back to Molly, seeing that she was too preoccupied with shouting at Charlie to hear what he had to say.  He locked eyes with Fred. “Then you two open that joke shop and show your mother that you  _ aren’t  _ failures, no matter  _ how  _ she’s been treating you both.” 

“Mum, I  _ really  _ –“ Charlie took a deep breath to calm himself.  He wasn’t surprised to finally notice that Ron and Ginny had wandered back inside with their dinner, and he couldn’t blame them; when Molly got mad like this, he usually turned tail and left, too.  He forced himself to speak calmly, knowing that  _ one  _ of them had to.  “…Mum, I  _ do  _ love you, and I  _ do  _ miss you.  You can always come and visit – you  _ know  _ you can – but the boys are opening their shop, and they’re staying with me.  They aren’t coming home. They’re staying with someone who understands them and  _ supports  _ them.” 

Molly fell silent.  If she was finally coming to her senses, all hope of progress vanished when Skye gave a loud rumble that echoed through the night sky.  Her eyes widened, and though she opened her mouth to say something about it, she quickly shut it and chased after George who had started fleeing towards the noise.

Back at the dinner table, Arthur gave Charlie a piercing look.  In a low tone, he said, “You  _ didn’t _ …”

Charlie shrugged nonchalantly.  “I did.” And with that, he picked his cutlery up again and calmly cut through his chicken before raising it to his lips.  

 

* * *

 

Through the darkness that engulfed the paddock, Molly almost thought she’d lost George for good before she heard his sobbing carrying on the wind.  She followed it, with the tip of her wand lit, she found George, pressed close against a bloody  _ dragon  _ that was chowing down on what was left of a fox.  

“George, come away!” Molly’s hysteria was evident even to George, but he didn’t turn around; he only shuffled closer to the scaly body, fitting perfectly between the spikes that struck outwards and would only too easily tear him to shreds if it decided to move.  “That’s a dragon! It’ll  _ kill  _ you!” 

Finally, George turned his head to look at his mother.  “No, mum… She’s  _ my  _ dragon…  She won’t hurt me…” 

“It’s a  _ dragon,  _ George!  Come away this instant!” As panicked as Molly was, her concern quickly turned to bewilderment as she watched the dragon nuzzle against her son, grumbling softly as if to ask what was wrong.  It had abandoned its meal and stood docile as George hugged its head, but quickly her parental concern returned, and she moved forward to pull him away before it lashed out and ripped him to ribbons.  “George!”

At her sudden movement, Skye raised her head and spread her wings as her roar almost deafened Molly.  She got so close so fast, Molly couldn’t move. 

“Skye!  No, Skye!” 

In the blink of an eye, George had moved in front her, with his arms outstretched as he yelled in a dominant tone she didn’t know he was capable of.  

“Back up!  Back up, Skye!” 

Molly couldn’t believe it; how had her son stopped a  _ dragon  _ from killing them so easily…?  It had obeyed; it had backed up, though it was snorting steam angrily from its nostrils and stomping its front left foot on the ground as it let out more loud rumbles Molly supposed were aggression growls.  

Once George was pleased with the situation, he turned around and looked at his mother.  He wiped at his eyes. “Why did you follow me…? I wanted to be left alone…” 

“I  _ followed  _ you because you ran off towards a  _ dragon _ !” 

“She’s  _ my  _ dragon,” George said roughly.  “She’s  _ mine _ .  Charlie gave her to me!  He said I could have her!” 

“ _ Charlie  _ gave you that beast?!” Her eyes bulged from their sockets.  “Wait until I get my hands on him! George, you are not emotionally stable enough to be in charge of that thing!” 

“I stopped her from eating you, didn’t I?” George’s own tone was bordering on yelling.  “I stopped her; I told her no and she  _ listened  _ to me!  Charlie wouldn’t have let me keep her if he didn’t think I could handle her!  But I  _ can,  _ mum!  I  _ love  _ my dragon!  Now leave me  _ alone _ !” 

In the lowest voice she had used all night, Molly said, “It’s  _ Charlie’s  _ doing; encouraging you and Fred into all this nonsense.  Joke shops and dragons… He went off the deep end and he’s dragging you boys down with him.” 

It hit a nerve.  George pointed back towards the house, and for the first time in his life, he screamed, “ _ Leave! _ ” 

She did.  And she didn’t look back.  

 


	19. Chapter 19

It had been a while since Charlie had jolted upright with a loud gasp, but in the early morning, it happened.  He wiped sweat from his forehead as he tried to steady his breathing, and after tugging George tighter to him, he reached out to squeeze Fred’s hand from beside the youngest.  

He’d almost thought he’d worked through his trauma as he hadn’t had one of those nightmares in a long time now, but here he was, sweating as images of that day swum through his mind.  He took one last look at his brothers to reassure himself that they were safe and just fine before he swung his legs over the edge of his bed and stood up. 

He used Lumos to light the darkened bedroom as he stumbled around the mess of clothing and searched for tracksuit pants, a shirt and a thick hoody so he could go for a run and clear his mind.  He dressed himself as quietly as he could, relieved that by the time he was leaving the bedroom, his brothers hadn’t woken. 

The cool morning breeze was what he needed.  He hadn’t gone for a morning run in a long time now, not since he and Bill had been younger and still living at the Burrow together.  He considered getting back into routine and taking his runs again each morning, especially now that he wasn’t working with dragons anymore, and if he should take the twins with him – it could only do them a world of good, after all.

He’d been gone maybe an hour before he got back home.  He checked his wristwatch; if the boys weren’t already awake, he’d have to get them up and ready for Fred’s job interview just after breakfast.  

“Boys?” Charlie pushed the bedroom door open again and peered into the still-dark room that had only been brightened ever slightly by the sun beginning to rise now.  “Boys, are you two up yet?”

Silence.  Charlie gulped heavily as he peered inside; it wasn’t normal for the twins to be so quiet, even in their sleep, and suddenly all he could think about was that day, how he could have easily lost George for good if his attacker had decided to take the boy with him. 

His heart raced, his mouth went dry, and he felt as if he could vomit when an empty bed stared back at him.  It’d finally happened. The thing he dreaded so much, it had once taken the form of a Boggart and reduced him to a hysteric mess in front of his entire Defence Against the Dark Arts class.  His beautiful brothers – the brothers he loved so,  _ so  _ much – had been taken from him.

His knees went weak and his legs became jelly as he slid down the doorway and fought against his tears.  He needed to tell Bill; Bill would know what to do, but Charlie couldn’t move; he could only –

“Charlie?  What are you doing?” 

A strangled cry escaped Charlie’s lips as he jumped up and wrapped his arms around both twins who had snuck up behind him.  He sobbed loudly, and all he could do was mutter, “I-I thought you’d both been taken from me…! Where were you two?”

The twins shared a concerned look before Fred said, “We were outside with Skye.  We came back to get dressed.”

Charlie kissed them both desperately.  “Oh, boys… Boys… I thought I’d lost you…”

“Did you have another nightmare, Charlie…?” It wasn’t the first time this had happened.  It’d happened just days after the attack on George, when they had all been so very young and Charlie had woken up one morning to only Fred eating breakfast with the rest of their family.  He’d cried and he’d sobbed and no matter how hard Bill had tried to console him, he couldn’t break out of his hysterics until Arthur had come home, with George’s tiny hand held tight in his as he whispered to Molly that the tests Charlie would eventually come to learn were STD checks had all come back negative.  He’d held George for the rest of the day, letting him go only when Molly had said it was time for the twins to go to bed. 

Charlie nodded, but he didn’t elaborate on his dream; he only released the two, and after squeezing their shoulders tight, he whispered, “Get dressed.  I’ll make breakfast.” 

He wasn’t in the kitchen long before the twins came back downstairs, George dressed as casually as ever in his jeans and red hoody while Fred sported brown chinos, a polo shirt, and dress shoes.  The older twin spun on the spot.

“How do I look, Charlie?” 

Charlie grinned.  He pushed the younger’s chin upwards with his thumb so he could kiss Fred and then say, “As gorgeous as ever.”

Pleased with his brother’s opinion, Fred sat with George as they waited for breakfast.  Once it was served, they ate happily and talked amongst themselves until Charlie announced that it was time to leave so they would get there on time.  

“I’ll drop you off, Fred, and George and I will go and have a coffee at the coffee shop across the road.” 

George pushed his plate away.  “Charlie, I don’t feel very well.  Can I stay home today?” 

Charlie nodded.  “Of course you can, love.  Do you want me to bring anything back for you?” 

“No, thanks, Char.  I’m okay. I might have a sleep.” 

“Then go and lay down, sweetheart.  You should have said something sooner.” 

George gave his brothers a farewell kiss before he moved into the living room to turn the TV on and curl up on the couch.  He listened to the front door closing and Charlie’s Land Cruiser start up before he tried to focus on the early morning cartoons, but soon enough, what could have been just seconds after Charlie had left, he was fast asleep once more.  

 

* * *

 

When George awoke, it was to the front door opening and Charlie stepping inside, a coffee in hand as he carried shopping in the other.  He rubbed his eyes, but he didn’t get up; he instead closed them again as he called, “Where’s Fred…?” 

Charlie poked his head around the living room doorway.  “He met up with Lee and wanted to spend time with him.”

George sat up now.  He rubbed his eyes again, and through his headache that must have developed during his nap, he mumbled, “Are you still mad at Lee…?” 

The older male put his shopping down so he could come and sit next to his brother.  He drank some of his coffee as he gathered his thoughts. “…I… am not so angry that I would stop Fred from talking to his friend…  But at the same time… I do not want to speak to Lee myself.” 

“Lee was only worried, Charlie…  I was mad at him, too… He had good intentions – he just…  He’s a really good person, Charlie… He’s just…  _ protective  _ of me.”

“Protective of you against your own  _ brother _ ?” Charlie frowned, and as hard as he tried, he couldn’t keep the bitterness from his voice.  He knew it would hurt George, upset him and maybe even scare him, but he couldn’t stop it; George wasn’t the only one who was feeling hurt right now…  “Are you trying to tell me Lee may have  _ feelings _ for you, too?” 

George flinched.  His hands fumbled together, and he looked away as he mumbled back, “Lee… thought I was being…  Being hurt… He didn’t want me to be hurt…”

Charlie’s expression turned pained.  He grabbed George’s hand, and with all of the gentleness he had inside of him, he caressed the back of his brother’s hand with his thumb before he raised it to his lips to kiss each knuckle, just like he was fond of doing whenever they were having intimate, sexless moments together.  

“Have I  _ ever  _ hurt you, George?  Please, be honest with me.  In your entire life, have I ever done anything to hurt you?” The pain turned to anxiety, and as Charlie became increasingly desperate for the younger to answer him, George understood; Charlie had anxiety, too – was just as  _ insecure _ as George was, but had, over the years, learnt to perfect his mask and bury everything that had bothered him beneath the surface.  By now, Charlie was whimpering, “Please, answer me, George… I haven’t… I  _ haven’t  _ been hurting you with our relationship together.  …Have I…? If I have, I’ll… I’ll let you leave. You can go back to the Burrow and you can be happy there – you’ll be  _ safe  _ there.  …From me…  You’ll be safe from me, George, and I’ll never scare you again because I’ll –“

George put his finger against Charlie’s lips to silence him.  He shook his head. “Charlie… You have  _ never  _ hurt me.  Honest.  _ Never _ .  You’ve always…  You’re the only brother who  _ hasn’t  _ hurt me in some way…  And stop listening to what Lee said; I love Lee, but he can be a real idiot sometimes – then was just one of those times.  You’re my brother, and I  _ love  _ you, Charlie.   _ Relax _ .” 

Charlie took a deep breath.  He nodded. He knew he was being irrational; it was just… with all the stress he had been under with everything that had come with being accused of rape, the cracks that had formed throughout his life were getting bigger and bigger until he wasn’t sure how long he would be able to continue concealing them. “You’re right, George.  I’m sorry. I love you.” 

“I love you, too, Charlie.”

Nothing more could be said between the two of them as two loud cracks from the dining room told them Fred had Apparated back, and someone had come with him.  They didn’t need to poke their heads into the dining room to see who it was; they knew it was Lee Jordan, and while George felt anxiety swim in his stomach at the thought of having to face his friend who had done this to him and Charlie, Charlie felt anger – not so much directed at Lee, but rather at Fred for bringing Lee into his home like this.  

“Georgie…?” Fred sounded wary, and he whispered something to Lee before only his footsteps started walking through the house.  “Georgie, are you here? Is Charlie home yet?” 

Charlie and George shared a look with each other.  Charlie remained silent, leaving the younger to whimper out, “Umm…  F-Fred…? Charlie isn’t too happy with this…” 

Silence.  Even the footsteps had stopped.  And then, after what had felt like a century, Fred completed the journey into the living room to look sheepishly at his big brother while his hands twisted together.  “U-umm… C-charlie… We were hoping to… to beat you back home…” 

Charlie pointed to the armchair opposite them.  His eyes narrowed, and he growled out, “Sit. We need to talk about this.” 

From the kitchen, Lee called out in an awkward tone, “It’s okay; I can, uhh…  I can wait for Fred to get what he came back for, and he can meet me back in Diagon Alley…” 

“No, you stay right where you are; I’ll get to you soon.” Charlie’s tone was harsh, but his next actions towards Fred were even harsher; he pointed at the doorway of the living room as he used his other hand to reach out and grab his brother’s shoulder so tight, his fingernails were digging into his skin even through his clothing.  He growled in a low tone, “After  _ all  _ I’ve done for you, Fred, you go and bring  _ him  _ into our home.”

Fred flinched.  He shifted uncomfortably beneath the young man’s glare.  “…I… just needed to get something I’d forgotten… We were hoping to get in and out before you came home…” 

“So you were going to go behind my back!” His yell startled Fred, and that was when Fred knew he’d messed up; making Charlie yell required the same amount of effort their mother had taken to make Bill just get up and leave in the middle of their dinner that night.  

George’s eyes widened as well, and he reached out to tug at his lover’s sleeve nervously.  “Charlie… Please don’t yell… You’re scaring us…” 

“Fred!  How  _ could  _ you?!  Have you forgotten it’s because of  _ him  _ you thought the things you did about me?!”

“…No…” Fred’s voice was barely above a whisper as he stared at his lap.  “I just…” 

“Just  _ what,  _ Fred?!  It’s as much  _ his  _ fault as it is  _ yours  _ that I’m stuck here!  And what do you do?! You come and bring him into  _ our  _ home!  I meant it when I said I will never stop you from seeing him, Fred – but don’t you  _ dare  _ bring him here when it’s  _ both  _ of your faults this is where we live now!” 

“Charlie, please…” George was getting desperate as his tugging became more frantic.  “S-stop yelling…!” 

Finally, Charlie took notice of the younger twin.  He frowned. He wrapped his arm around George’s shoulders and pulled him close before he muttered, “You’ve really hurt me today, Fred.   _ Really  _ hurt me.” 

“…” Fred licked at his lips, but still he didn’t look up.  

Charlie looked between the twins before he sighed and called out, “Lee?  Come in here a minute, will you?” 

Lee did as he was told.  He looked as awkward and out of place as Fred did, but that was to be expected; he probably had no idea what Charlie was going to do to him.  “Y-yeah…?”

In the calmest tone Charlie could muster in his anger, he requested, “Come here, please.  I seem to remember that day you were saying how I was brainwashing George. Correct?”

“…Y-yes, sir…” 

Charlie frowned.  His tone genuinely softened as he whispered, “Please don’t call me sir, Lee…  Now, you’re a smart boy from what my brothers have told me about you. If I was brainwashing George to make it easier for me to…to coerce him into things he doesn’t truly want from me…  Don’t you think his depression would only have been aggravated, despite how brainwashed he is? He’d have been taught it’s  _ okay  _ for me to do those things to him – but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’d  _ want  _ it.  Yes?” 

“…Yes, si – Charlie…  Yes, Charlie…” 

As gently as he could be, Charlie reached out to take George’s left arm in his own.  He turned it so his palm was facing the roof, and with that, he slowly slid the sleeve upwards.  He waited until Lee had taken in a breath of astonishment before he pointed out, “He had  _ never  _ stopped self-harming until he came to live with me, Lee.  George, show him your other arm, please. Do you see now, Lee?  He’s  _ happy  _ with me.  Yes, he still suffers depression – I would never expect him to  _ not _ – but look at how far he’s come.  You know first hand just how sliced up his arms have always been.  But look; these scars are  _ long  _ healed, Lee.  He hasn’t self-harmed for four months – and if I was really as terrible to him as you seem to want to believe I am, I’m sure his arms would have been cut into ribbons by now.” 

Lee’s fingers ghosted over old scars, almost in disbelief; he’d never seen George with a healed scar without a dozen fresh ones to make up for it – the fact that he could stand here and, for the first time in all his years of knowing the Weasleys, actually see George’s arms intact – as best they could be, anyway – was something he almost couldn’t swallow. 

“But  _ Fred  _ –“ Lee started, but was cut off by Charlie calmly answering.

“- Also has not self-harmed since he’s been with me.” Charlie watched the older twin roll his sleeves up before he continued.  “Please, Lee. Can I honestly be that bad of a person if both of my little brothers haven’t self-harmed since I took them in? If it must be an indicator of any sort to you, maybe you should look at our parents – surely  _ they  _ were worse to the twins than I have been if Fred and George have continued to self-harm while under their roof.”

Lee shook his head.  “Mr. and Mrs. Weasley?  No way; they’re  _ great  _ parents.” 

“And yet my brothers are more depressed at the Burrow than at my home.  I assure you, Lee; whatever you think about me is  _ wrong.”  _

Lee looked to Fred, as if to get the twin to back him up on this.  “Fred…?”

Fred shrugged.  “I told you, mate…  We were wrong about Charlie…  Please, drop this… I’m tired of everyone fighting all the time…” 

Charlie looked between the three youngest before he sighed.  “Lee… Look. I love my brothers. Very, very much. Now watch me closely.  Does  _ this  _ look non-consensual to you?”

Lee’s eyes widened as he watched the way Charlie pressed his mouth against George’s, and the two engaged in a  _ very  _ intimate kiss.  It was wrong – he  _ knew  _ it was  _ so  _ wrong – but at the same time…  

“See?  I tried telling you…” Fred sighed helplessly, watching as Charlie’s kiss deepened and he drew George onto his lap so he could slide the tips of his fingers down the younger’s sides.  “It’s not… We  _ all  _ love each other…  Charlie and George are in love with each other, and I…  Well… Lee… I think… We are all in love… with each other…” 

“But you’re all  _ brothers _ !” 

“Yes, of course we are.” Charlie had broken the kiss with George to continue talking.  “We’re brothers. But we’re also in love. I don’t expect you to understand it, and that’s okay.  I just want you to understand that what we all have together… Is something  _ very  _ consensual and loving…” 

Lee looked back to Fred, his eyes still wide.  “You… You’ve… You’ve  _ been  _ with them, Fred…?” 

Fred nodded.  “Charlie helped me work out why I’ve never been satisfied with girls…  He helped me realise I like other guys – that I like… I like Charlie and George…  He never… He never  _ did  _ anything to me – not until I understood what I was feeling for my brothers, so please don’t accuse him of having  _ molested  _ me into turning gay…” 

Lee looked to George now, at the younger twin still curled up on Charlie’s lap and looking  _ very  _ pleased with his new seat.  George looked  _ very  _ tired, but that was nothing new; the twins had always had deep bags under their eyes, no matter how much sleep they got.  But what got Lee the most was the way his lips were curled upwards in this moment of passivity; if this were just two years ago, George would have still had his almost-permanent frown on his face.

But today, he looked…  _ content _ .  

“George…” Lee swallowed thickly as he tried to find the right words to say.  “…George, I… Are you  _ happy  _ with him, George…?  With the things you do together…?” 

George nodded.  “Happy, Lee…” 

“…” Lee fidgeted now.  “…Are you… in  _ love _ …?” 

George looked up to Charlie’s face.  He stared for several seconds before the brightest smile Lee had ever seen him don crossed his face.  “ _ Very  _ in love, Lee.” 

Lee’s concerned expression didn’t change for several seconds.  But then, finally, he gave a smile back. He looked to Charlie, and though anxiety filled his features, he still mumbled, ”I…  I’m so sorry for what I did, Charlie… I was stupid… I don’t expect for you to forgive me, but… can we just get along…?” 

Charlie nodded.  He pushed gently at George’s upper back to get his brother to move, and once he could finally stand, he said, “Fred, get our guest a drink and make him comfortable.  I’m going to take a nap. Are you coming, George?”

George shook his head.  “I wanna talk to Lee some more; I haven’t seen him since I left school.” 

Charlie smiled in understanding.  “Of course. I love you two.” 

And with that, Charlie was gone.  

The conversation between the younger three was as natural as it had once been for them now that the awkward, uncertain tension between them had lifted.  

“So, what kind of job did you get, Fred?” Once the older twin had returned with three mugs of hot chocolate complete with marshmallows, Lee’s usual cheeky grin returned.  “I never thought you’d do Muggle work – you and George really  _ do  _ want that joke shop.” 

Fred waved a dismissive hand.  “We have to start somewhere, Lee.  It’s only retail work; Charlie got me the job interview.  He said he knew someone from his work who was related to someone  _ else  _ looking for an employee, and he suggested me.  Charlie knew I could save up Muggle money and get it exchanged once I get enough for the shop.” 

“That’s awesome, Fred.  What about you, George? Do you have a job, too?” 

“I help Charlie at an animal shelter.  I’m only a volunteer, so I don’t get paid, but I don’t mind; I just like helping animals, and Charlie said if I work hard enough, they might offer me a job, too.” 

“So.  You and Charlie.” Lee nudged his friend’s side playfully, and George had almost forgotten everything that had happened between them because now, Lee just looked so mischievous, George understood there was no malice here now.  “How did you work out you were in love with him? Did you have a few wet dreams about him or something?” 

George blushed.  He mumbled shyly, “You know I don’t have wet dreams, Lee…” 

“No, but you’ve woken up with erections plenty of times before!” Lee laughed joyfully.  “Remember that time a girl came in to see me in our dorm one morning, but she left straight away when she saw the almighty tent you had pitched beneath your blankets?”

“Wait, what?” George frowned.  “When did  _ that  _ happen?”

“You wouldn’t remember; you were asleep – and we left you asleep until it went away.” Fred laughed as well.  

“Now, don’t change the subject, Georgie; how did you learn you love Charlie?” Lee clasped his hands together in anticipation. 

“I just…” George tried to think about his answer, but he wasn’t sure anything he could say would make sense.  “I… I suppose I’ve never really… Looked at anyone else other than Charlie… Charlie was always different… Apart from Fred, Charlie was the only one who I could let touch me…  He just… was _ different _ .” 

“Well,  _ that  _ was anticlimactic.” Lee sighed so dramatically, it earned laughs from the other two.  “Hey, you guys wanna go catch a few beers or something at the Leaky Cauldron? My treat!” 

“Definitely, Lee.  Georgie, can you leave a note for Charlie so he knows where we are?  Let me get changed into some good clothing.” 

George nodded.  He got up to do as he was told, and for the first time in a  _ very  _ long time, he was going out to socialise like every other normal guy his age would do.  He hadn’t realised how isolated he had allowed himself to become until he was sitting at a booth, chugging butterbeers and laughing joyfully, and it was then he understood why Charlie had often tried to encourage him to go out without him; he’d wanted only to be with Charlie so much, he’d stopped living his own life.

It wasn’t healthy, he knew, and now he understood Charlie’s concerns about him being cooped up in the house all the time and why he had encouraged George to do some volunteer work with him – and in his drunken state, he felt more loved than he had in a long while.    


	20. Chapter 20

“Oh, no…  Charlie…?”

Charlie looked to his side at George’s nervous tone.  He frowned at the sight of his brother chewing at his fingertips, and from where he was wrapping a bandage around a stray dog’s injured leg, he asked, “What’s wrong?” 

George forgot how many people were standing around within earshot.  His voice trembled as he said loud and clear, “I think I forgot to lock Skye back in this morning…  What if she gets out?” 

Charlie didn’t have a chance to respond because his female co-worker right next to him asked, “Who’s Skye?” 

“My dr – my grandma.” George had panicked, and now he was panicking even more at the looks he was getting; he knew he had just dug himself deep with this one.

“You lock your  _ grandmother  _ away?” 

“Well, I don’t want her to get out and fly away or somethi – hieee!  Charlie!” By now, George had stressed himself so much, he was biting at his fingers hard enough to break the skin.

Charlie let go of the bandage so he could stand up and pull George to his feet as well.  He excused them both before he moved his brother to the front of the rescue van they had arrived in, and after making sure no one was eavesdropping on them, he mumbled, “George, please be more careful where we talk about Skye; this could have ended terribly.  Skye is fine; I locked her in before we left, so don’t stress; I did it for you.” 

George frowned.  He knew that Charlie was right; if he slipped up in the wrong place, they’d…  “Sorry, Charlie…” 

“It’s alright.  Now I’m just trying to work out how we get around what you said without Obliviating everyone…” 

To their relief, however, everyone else seemed to pass it off as George just being George; they had come to learn that he was a flighty, reserved person prone to panic if put under too much pressure, but also had a joking, prankster side to him at the same time, and they figured it had just been a mixture of both.  

“Skye is his bird,” Charlie had told everyone with a bright smile.  “Beautiful parrot, she is. Absolutely gorgeous.” 

It was normal for the Weasley brothers to receive a bit more attention than the other workers – especially from the females - and now was no exception as they drilled him in honest curiosity about his ‘parrot’.  

“Excuse me?” Charlie grabbed the attention of the woman who had called in about the group of injured dogs she had found right next to the freeway.  “Were there any other animals? I’ll go and have a look.”

While Charlie wandered out towards the scrubland, George was wishing he could chase after his big brother when one of the rather handsy women he worked with moved close enough to him to brush their shoulders together.  

“I’d love to see this parrot of yours, George,” she purred, now that everyone else’s attention had gone to the next dog requiring treatment.  “Is he  _ big _ ?” 

George didn’t understand right away, and thinking of Skye, he naturally replied with, “ _ Huge,  _ Emily.” 

“I’d bet.  Can I see it some time?” She winked at him, and it was then he clicked on.  His face flushed, and he mumbled something about having to go and help Charlie with what he was doing.  She grabbed at his arm to stop him from leaving so she could whisper something flirtatious to him before he left, but she quickly let go when she felt him go rigid under her touch, and he let out a frightened whimper.  She’d known previously he had problems with being touched; she’d seen the way he’d freeze up and curl in on himself if the other workers got too close to him, but she thought she might have stood a chance after he had flirted back with her.  “George?” 

It took several seconds for George to unfreeze, and once he had, he ran down into the scrub after Charlie, mindful of any snakes and still trembling slightly from his experience.  He let out a sigh of relief when he found the young man crouched down further ahead, his back to George, and he called out, “Charlie? The strangest thing just happened to me. …Charlie?” 

Charlie didn’t respond; he didn’t  _ move _ .  George felt the familiar anxiety return; had something happened to Charlie…?  He quickened his pace, but no matter how close he got, or how much louder he made sure to become with each step, still Charlie’s concentration never broke. 

“Charlie…?” George stood by his brother’s crouched form.  He put his hand on the other’s shoulder. “Charlie, what are – o-oh…” 

He understood now; hidden almost completely beneath a hollowed out tree trunk was an entire litter of puppies, almost a dozen, days-old babies that weren’t moving in the slightest.  He looked back to Charlie, and he felt his heart tug painfully at the despair on his brother’s face. 

“Charlie, we couldn’t have saved what we didn’t know about…” George’s fingers threaded slowly through the older male’s hair.  “We  _ couldn’t  _ have…” 

Charlie shook his head.  “They’ve been  _ poisoned,  _ George…  Those other dogs were bait dogs – probably for dog fighting rings.  But  _ these _ …  Oh, god…  They were just  _ babies,  _ George…” 

George didn’t know what to say to comfort the other; Charlie had always been like that; empathetic and loving to such a huge fault, it destroyed him whenever things like this happened.  “Charlie… Umm… We’ll get them back to the van… Get them away from here…” 

Charlie nodded.  He reached out and took the first pup into his hold, his eyes welling with tears at the stiffness of its tiny body.  “I-I’ll bury them, George… Find them a nice little spot and bury – George?” 

It had been so quiet, George had thought he was imagining things – but when Charlie asked if he had heard it, too, he knew it had been real; one of those puppies had whimpered.  His heart stopped in his chest as he searched desperately through them to find which one had lived, and when he found it, he cried out, “A survivor, Charlie!” 

Charlie helped put all of the puppies in George’s arms before he jumped to his feet and ushered him away.  “Quick; get them back and get that baby treatment; I’m going to see if there are any more out here.” 

Charlie could have been wandering for miles, for hours, even, but he hadn’t found any more dogs to his relief.  He made his way back to the vans to see what was happening with the other rescues, and he wasn’t surprised in the least to see that while four of the adult dogs were still having their wounds temporarily treated until they got back to the shelter, George was sitting in the airconditioned cabin of the van so he could bottle feed the surviving pup.  

He thought nothing of the co-worker who had joined his brother in the cabin; he knew the long-haired woman to be an avid animal lover as well, so she was probably just concerned about the baby’s wellbeing.  

That was, until he watched the way George’s facial features twisted into uneasiness as Emily’s hand travelled down his clothed chest, between his nipples and all the way down to his stomach, stopping only at the hem of his pants, but even then she didn’t pull her hand away.  

He bit his lip at the way his beautiful brother stiffened and then tried to move to the side to put distance between them, but she followed him.  He took a deep breath before he moved to the van and opened the door, and with a fake smile, he forced out in a calm manner, “You two alright in here?” 

She had jumped back as if she had been burnt, and Charlie couldn’t help but smirk inwardly; she knew better than to hit on his little brother in front of him.  “Charlie! We were just… checking on this little pup!” 

Charlie nodded.  “George, you’re looking rather unravelled.  Did something happen?” 

George said nothing as he slid himself the rest of the way along the van until he was wrapped up in his brother’s arms.  He remained as stiff as a board, his body starting to tremble as he stared pointedly ahead with a fearful expression on his face, and it made Charlie  _ furious _ .  “…It’s okay, Char… Nothing happened…”

Charlie sighed.  He threaded his fingers through the younger’s hair before he muttered, “Sexual harassment will get you fired, Emily – and that will be the  _ least  _ of your problems if I ever catch you harassing my brother again…  He’s a sexual abuse survivor, and I don’t care if it’s a man or a woman; anyone who makes my brother afraid in front of me will be going home missing a few teeth if they’re lucky.” 

She looked back and forth between the two Weasleys before she raised her hand to her mouth and whispered, “I didn’t…  I didn’t  _ know _ …!” 

“And we would appreciate it if you kept it to yourself.  Now, please leave us be; we have a puppy that’s potentially poisoned here.” 

She left quickly, leaving Charlie to push George back into the cabin so he could get in as well.  He opened his arm and allowed his brother to cuddle in again him, and with his lover secure in his hold, he focused on the pup.  

“Sarah said she doesn’t think he’s been poisoned,” George whispered.  He still remained stiff, though his trembling was slowly decreasing now that it was just the two of them.  “She thinks he was going to starve to death instead…” 

“Well, we aren’t going to let that happen, now, are we?” Charlie glanced around them to make sure no one else was outside the van as he slowly slid his wand partially from his pocket and whispered a spell so quietly, George didn’t hear what he had said. 

“What did you do, Charlie?” George wasn’t alarmed; he knew his brother better than to ever think Charlie would do something to bring harm to an animal.

Charlie smiled as he slipped his wand back into his pocket.  “A little something I learnt from working with dragons so long.  Every now and then we’d find baby dragons in the same condition as this little guy; it’s like a temporary hydration and feeding spell – usually gave us time to get them back to the reserve where we could look after them properly.” 

George grinned at his big brother in adoration; Charlie always knew everything.  “Can you teach me that spell, Charlie? When we get home?” 

“Of course.” And with that, Charlie dropped his head and reached around to the back of his brother’s neck to pull him in for a kiss.  Their lips had just brushed together when they both jumped away in fright as the driver’s side door opened and a co-worker joined them in the cabin.  

“You guys okay?” He raised his eyebrow at their flushed, nervous expressions.  

“Yeah…” Charlie gestured to the puppy.  “We were so focused on him, you gave us a real fright.”

He laughed as he turned the key in the ignition.  “Sorry. We’ve got the dogs ready for transport, so we’re going to head back to the shelter now.  How’s that little guy there?”

George took a deep breath, finally taking notice of how less-rigid his body was now.  “He’s okay, Adam.” 

The drive was a long, comfortable one as small bits of conversation floated here and there with the other rescue vans following behind them.  George had almost completely zoned out, focused on the pup fast asleep in the crook of his arm, before he looked to the other man as he heard his name being mentioned.  

“George, I’m so sorry to hear about your family…” 

“Huh?” George frowned.  He looked to Charlie, and upon seeing the same confused expression on his brother’s face, he looked back at Adam and asked, “What do you mean?”

“About your family.  About how they…” His voice lowered into a whisper now.  “…How they  _ abused  _ you…”

George’s mouth went dry; what had Emily  _ said  _ to everyone…?  He looked to his lap, not knowing how to respond.  

“It’s a sensitive topic for him.” Charlie wrapped his arm around George’s shoulders and pulled him close.  He, also, was rather lost for words, and he didn’t know whether to deny or confirm what his friend had been told.  

“Is that why he lives with you, Charlie?” Adam glanced away from the road to look at the two younger males.  “You have another brother who stays with you, too, don’t you? Did he also…?”

“No, Fred is just fine; nothing’s happened to him.” Charlie sighed.  He dropped his chin onto his brother’s head when the younger curled up on his lap, and though he knew just how dangerous it was to let him stay there while they were driving, he didn’t have it in him to push George away when all he wanted was a bit of comfort.  “It’s just… We…”

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” Adam promised.  “I just… I’d always wondered why George was always so nervous around me when you aren’t around…” 

“He’s nervous around most males.” Changing the subject, Charlie asked, “How are those dogs?” 

“Physically, they should be okay with treatment.  But who knows how they are mentally after this…” 

Threading his fingers through George’s hair, Charlie sighed.  He didn’t like people knowing about what had happened to George, but when they asked, what did he say?  He hated to tell them the truth, but was them believing a lie better than them knowing what had  _ really  _ happened?  Which answer would earn George less pity than he already got after people found out he’d been raped?  

 

* * *

 

When they got back to the shelter, all the attention was making  _ Charlie  _ uncomfortable, and he could only imagine how nervous it was making poor George.  

“How many times did it happen, George?” 

“Was it  _ all  _ of your family who did it to you?”

“How old were you when it first started?” 

Charlie didn’t know if it was his place to tell them what had  _ really  _ happened; if he should let George handle everything on his own and tell them what he was comfortable with.  He was glad to see how much everyone obviously cared about George and only meant well, but still…

They  _ were  _ being a little overbearing, and he was surprised George hadn’t burst into tears yet.  

It was when the shelter had finally closed for the night and they were heading out to the car with the pup in George’s arms did George finally let out a sigh of relief.  

“That was the hardest day of work ever, Charlie…” With the slight upturn of his lips, Charlie knew George was trying his best to make a joke out of it.  “I thought I was gonna die a few times back there. Maybe they should start paying me now; otherwise I’m gonna feel like slave labour.” 

Charlie offered a chuckle.  He ruffled the younger’s hair.  “You’re not upset over it?”

George shrugged.  “A little… I did cry a little bit; you saw that…  But… But it was kind of nice… to know that so many people care about me…  I feel a bit lucky to have that, Charlie…” 

The older male’s smile stretched wide across his face.  “See? I  _ told  _ you they all like you, George!  How many times have I told you you should take them up on their offers of hanging out after work?  It’ll be good for you; I promise. Go have a few drinks with the guys, and – well, I dunno; whatever the girls want to do; as long as nobody’s hitting on you, I’d love to see you spend more time with friends.  Some of the guys are going out drinking tomorrow night; why not ask if you can go with them?” 

George took a deep breath.  His hands tumbled together as he looked away.  “Umm… I-I…”

“Or, I can ask them for you,” Charlie promised.  “Would you like that better?”

George nodded.  He was glad his brother understood him so well and was never too forceful for him – baby steps, Charlie had always called it.  

And it seemed that, with each baby step George continued to take, he felt better in his life, no longer feeling as if he were being crushed by the weight of it, but instead slowly learning how to smile more and more genuinely each time, his laughter becoming heartier as his eyes crinkled with happiness.

Sometimes he wished he’d gone to live with Charlie sooner; maybe then he could have spent a few more years enjoying himself rather than wishing he was dead.  


	21. Chapter 21

The first thing Charlie took notice of when something roused him from sleep was the small whimpers and the desperate tossing and turning of a body next to his.  The second thing that crossed his mind when he reached across to try and calm George down was the sudden dampness that seemed to be all throughout their bed. 

He sighed.  “George…? Come on, George; calm down.  You’re safe… You’re safe…” 

There was a frustrated groan from the other side of the bed, one that signalled Fred was also awake now.  There was a bit of bite to his tone, but that was to be expected; it  _ was  _ late, and Fred was exhausted.  “Damnit, George… Charlie…?” 

“I know, Fred.”  Charlie sat up now so he could pull the younger twin into his arms, trying his best to ignore the damp clothing that sent shudders of disgust along his spine.  “I know.” 

“He’s pissed everywhere; it’s all over me…” The sound of clothing rustling told Charlie the other was probably undressing, and he couldn’t blame Fred; what he would give to have a long hot shower right now…  

“George, wake up, sweetheart…  George…” When George only continued to writhe in his arms, Charlie frowned.  “Honey? Sweetie?”

“I’m sleepin’ on the couch…” Fred mumbled as he got off the bed and stumbled towards the door.  

Charlie couldn’t blame the younger; Fred hadn’t been sleeping so well, and tonight had been the first time in two weeks he’d been able to get more than two hours’ sleep – Charlie would be grouchy, too, if he had been in his brother’s shoes.  

Fred’s departure left Charlie in a pickle, though; without the older twin there, he didn’t know what to do with George as his brother just wasn’t waking up.  He crawled to the very edge of the mattress where there was no wetness, and as much as he wanted to get both of their clothing off, he knew better; undressing George while he was like this would only make matters worse if he were to wake up.  “Shh… Sweetheart, it’s okay. Everything’s okay, honey. I promise. Shh.” 

This wouldn’t have been such a huge issue had their three wands not been downstairs; Charlie could have cleaned them all off and tried to get George back to sleep – but instead, all he could do was grab a dirty shirt from off the floor and use it to wipe them both down as best he could. 

With that done, he stood up and cradled his brother in one arm as he used the other to strip the sheets off the bed, and as much as he wanted to take them straight to the laundry, he couldn’t; not while his brother was in such a bad way.  

“Poor baby…” Charlie nuzzled the tip of his nose against George’s cheek when the younger’s whimpers turned into loud, repetitive keens he recognised to be keens of pain from reliving the day of his assault in his dreams. “Oh, hon…  What did he do to you…?” 

The keening only got louder, his writhing more and more violent, until his eyes had snapped open and a loud scream erupted from his vocal cords.

“Oh, sweetie, no,” Charlie tried to comfort him, but it was hard to do so when his brother was insistent on getting away.  “Sweetie, please; relax for me, okay? It’s me. It’s Charlie. Shh…” 

It wasn’t an easy task to accomplish by any means, but finally, George was curled silently up on his lap, hiccupping to himself as he stared blankly through the darkness, Charlie’s hands massaging his shoulders to try and ground him.  

Finally, Charlie whispered, “Let’s get you into the bath, hon.  Come on.” 

George allowed himself to be carried into the bathroom, to be washed and groomed and dried and dressed and  _ loved _ , but even as he sat on the beanbag in the corner of the bedroom as Charlie went about pulling the sheets off so he could put fresh ones on instead, he still felt empty.  He remembered that day. He remembered being lured closer by the promise of candy, and then.. 

He remembered the way that man had grabbed his arm so tightly, it hurt.  He remembered trying to get away to run back to his family but his struggling had only earned him a punch in the face and kick in the groin.  He had screamed once, but he quickly gave up on that idea when all it had accomplished was having a hand wrap around his throat and squeeze so tightly, he choked.  

His clothing had been ripped off his body, and after he was thrown into the wall and rebounded onto the marbled floor, he had been stomped on so many times, he had lost count after the seventh stomp on his head had made his vision go black for a minute. 

From there, the hand had returned to his throat to stop him screaming as his legs were nudged apart and he felt as if his body was being torn into two.  He’d cried so much, but the pain had never stopped; not until he felt hot liquids seep into his body at the same time the sound of footsteps had reverberated off the walls of the outside corridor, and with a quick, calculated punch to the head, everything had gone black for good until he’d woken up in Bill’s arms, hearing all of his brothers crying hysterically around him.  

“Charlie…?” 

Charlie turned around at his brother’s defeated whisper.  Throughout the darkness, he gave a gentle smile. “What is it, George?  Do you need anything? I won’t be much longer; we can go back to sleep in a moment.” 

George nodded.  He swallowed past the lump in his throat before he whispered, “…I need you to rape me, Charlie…  Please…” 

Charlie could have choked.  He froze in what he was doing, and as much as he wanted to yell about how George was to  _ never  _ ask something like that of him again, he didn’t; instead, he forced out in his calmest tone, “I won’t tell you what  _ you  _ want, George – what’s good or bad for you…  But we’re going to discuss that in the morning, if that’s what you  _ really  _ want, George…  Not now. You aren’t… in your right mind, and I won’t let you talk me into anything you’re going to regret in the morning.” 

George nodded.  He didn’t argue; he only stood up and retreated back to the bed once it had been cleaned up and the new sheets fitted.  He lay down, curled up tightly in his brother’s arms as he forced himself back into sleep. 

Charlie, however, could only lay awake and thread his fingers through George’s hair softly as he tried to understand what had brought such a request on, and  _ why _ .  George had been doing so good, and the  _ thought  _ that he was starting to take steps back…  

He wiped at his wet eyes before he kissed the younger’s forehead.  “I love you so much, George… Please, don’t ask such difficult things of me again; you don’t understand… how much it hurts…” 

And with that, he continued to sob to himself until the sun had risen and he got out of bed to go for a run, grateful for the distraction.  

When George had woken up, he acted as if nothing had happened that night.  He poked at his breakfast like usual, but he did eat a small amount as he was accustomed to doing, and though the drive to the animal shelter was a tad quieter than usual, he seemed back to his bubbly self when they stepped into the building and got ready for the day ahead of them.

“Can you look after the phones for me today, George?  The receptionist called in sick and we won’t get anyone else in for another hour.” Their boss was a lovely man, always so kind to George.

The younger Weasley smiled as he nodded, and once their boss had left, he turned to another of their co-workers in the break room with them.  “Sarah, can you show me how to use the fellytone, please?” 

She laughed brightly, and her eyes crinkled with affection as she reached out to pat George’s head.  She smiled even brighter when the younger didn’t pull away from her touch, even though he did flinch a little; he always seemed to get more comfortable around them with each day.  “Telephone, George. You guys sure did have a different upbringing; no TV or phones or anything.”

Charlie chuckled.  His tone was light and loving as he replied, “Well, our parents were much different.  Should we get a phone, Sarah? It hasn’t been a problem for us so far.”

“You guys should definitely have a phone; it’s pretty impossible to not have one and I don’t know how you guys have done it so far.”

He grinned.  “George, want to pick out a new phone tomorrow?” 

When George gave an excited nod, Sarah’s expression softened; these two brothers were just so sweet, and it was heart-warming how close they were with each other.  She reached out to tap the back of George’s hand with the tips of her fingers. “Come on, George; I’ll show you how to use the phones.” 

Charlie watched them go as he finished signing them in.  His mind went back to what had happened that morning, and why George seemed to fine now; it had never really been that way with him before because usually whenever he’d woken up in distress, it was going to be a particularly bad day for him.  

Did George even remember waking up last night, Charlie wondered.  Did he remember his nightmares? What he had requested Charlie do to him?  He hoped not. He hoped it was nothing more than the dissociation George hadn’t displayed to him for some time now.  

He sighed.  He shouldn’t think about this here; it would only upset him.  He put their things away in the locker and then left the break room so he could head out the back and check on all of the animals and see if any of them needed anything from him.  

He desperately missed working with dragons, he realised as he didn’t hesitate to pick up a lizard that must have been brought in the night before.  He grinned at it, and he hugged it tight to his chest as he remembered the feel of baby dragons in his arms. 

Fred had tried to fix things.  He had tried to withdraw everything he had accused Charlie of, but it had been too late; the Ministry weren’t interested in hearing anything Fred had to say, and Charlie had lost all hope of ever going back to his old life.  

But it wasn’t so bad; he loved this job as well, and he knew George was loving it, too – it just…  It just wasn’t the same… 

“If no one comes to claim you, I’m adopting you myself,” he told the lizard fondly.  He stroked two fingers down its back before he put it back in its enclosure and continued with his job.  

He made a mental note to contact Bill and discuss with him what had happened with George, but before he could even plan out what he would tell his big brother, he was startled by the door banging open behind him and someone running to him, yelling his name in panic. 

Charlie’s stomach churned;  _ George…  _  “What happened?” 

“It’s George!  Come quick!” 

He could have vomited as he ran out to reception, and finding George cowering in a corner of the room, with his knees drawn to his chest as he rocked himself desperately was something Charlie had truly believed he wasn’t going to see again.  He knelt by his brother’s side, and not knowing what to do, he whispered, “What happened, George?” 

George sniffed.  He looked at the older male with tear-filled eyes as he whispered back, “That man, Charlie…  That man was here…” 

Charlie almost couldn’t swallow.  He looked over his shoulder and asked, “Was there anyone else in here with him?” 

Sarah was the one to reply.  “No, I was showing him how to use a phone and he looked up, and…  He just freaked out…” 

Hallucinations.  It wasn’t the first time he’d envisioned something that wasn’t there, but it hadn’t happened since he was seven – at least, that he knew about, anyway…  

He scooped his lover up into his arms and held him tight.  “I’m so sorry; I need to get him home and look after him; he isn’t well…  I’m so very sorry… He’s hallucinating…”

As Charlie carried the younger out to his car, he knew he  _ definitely  _ needed Bill’s help on this one; whatever had happened had caused an issue he wasn’t entirely sure on how to handle on his own.  

* * *

 

“I came as quick as I could.  I’m sorry I couldn’t come any faster.” 

Charlie looked up from where he had been sitting on the couch, staring at his lap as he chewed relentlessly at his fingernails.  He frowned at his big brother. “He’s in bed. I put him to sleep an hour ago. Fred is staying the night with Lee Jordan; he’s too emotionally drained to be around this right now.” 

Bill looked at his wristwatch.  “It’s seven-thirty. Have you had dinner?”

“No, I…  I’m not very hungry…” 

“Well, I haven’t eaten either.  You stay here; I’m going to make us dinner – and yes, you are eating with me, Charlie; no excuses.  George will be  _ fine  _ asleep – he probably  _ needs  _ it.  How has his sleep been?” 

“Not terrible…  Fred’s has been worse…”

As the two walked into the kitchen together, Bill murmured, “Didn’t you once tell Fred it’s okay if he needs to take some time and space away from George if he needs it?”

“Yeah…”

Bill turned around.  He put his hands on his brother’s shoulders as he smiled.  “Char, you should really take your own advice. It’s  _ okay  _ to ask for help.  It’s why I’m  _ here _ .  What are big brothers for, after all?”

Charlie offered a weak smile.  “Thanks, Bill…” 

“Any time, Char.  Now sit down; I’ll handle everything here.  We’re going to eat, and then we’re going to discuss you taking a break – taking time for yourself for once.  You  _ both  _ need family; I’ll try once more with mum.  You can’t keep doing this on your own.” 

“You’re the best, Bill.  I love you.” 

When strong arms wrapped around him and engulfed him in a bear hug as he murmured, “I love you, too, Char”, Charlie could have cried; he was so lucky to have Bill, and he hated to think where his family would have ended up had it not always been for Bill the peacekeeper.   


	22. Chapter 22

The fact that his entire family was gathered in his living room was something Charlie was still trying to wrap his head around.  He didn’t know what Bill had said to everyone, but somehow, no one was arguing, even though Molly was off in her own little corner, looking like she was torn between concern and disdain.  

“Do you want to play Quidditch with us, George?” It was Ron, who was pointing at their broomsticks tucked neatly against the wall.  

“Yeah, come on, George; we haven’t played Quidditch in so long together!” Ginny’s small hands tugged at her brother’s arm to try and get him up, but all it accomplished was George pressing himself closer to Bill as he stared around at everyone with wide eyes.  

“Maybe you  _ should  _ play with them, George,” Bill encouraged as his hand stroked ever slowly through his hair, just as it had for the past fifteen minutes.  “Get some fresh air.”

On the other end of the couch, Fred and Arthur whispered together about Muggle products and how Arthur would love to see the twins make use of them for their joke shop, ever mindful to keep Molly from overhearing lest it start another argument.  

“You know what would be perfect, Fred?  A toaster!” Arthur was rambling, and to Muggles he may have looked  _ insane,  _ but Charlie knew better; his father was incredibly passionate right now.  “A toaster that you put the bread into, but instead of pushing bread back out, fireworks come out instead!  If you make one, please give me one, too, son; it’ll be one of my most treasured possessions.” 

Harry and Hermione were whispering amongst themselves as well, and though Charlie couldn’t hear them properly, he was sure Hermione was throwing medical terms around about George as he could make out professional-sounding terms such as  _ delusions,  _ and  _ schizophrenia _ .  He didn’t know what Schizophrenia was, but it sounded terrible and he truly hoped his brother didn’t have it.  

“But then I also read about hallucinations going hand-in-hand with other psychosis disorders such as…”

Charlie blocked her out; the last thing he wanted was to listen to her ‘diagnosing’ his brother; it would only get potential issues stuck in his head and stress for the rest of his life if George had them as well. 

“Hermione, really.” Harry looked back to George with a sympathetic expression on his face.  He turned back to the girl and whispered, “He has  _ Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder!   _ He’s not a walking DSM manual!  Something probably made him remember – you’re looking too deep into this.” 

Charlie let out a breath of relief; at least  _ someone  _ understood…  He sat on the arm of the couch next to Bill so he could mutter something to his big brother, but before he could even open his mouth to do so, George tugged at his sleeve.  “Yes, sweetie?” 

George’s eyes widened even further as he whispered, “Why’s everyone here…?  Why is everyone fussing over me…?” 

Charlie and Bill shared a knowing look, but it was Bill who spoke their concerns.  “He doesn’t remember…”

Charlie pulled at his hair in distress.  Ron and Ginny, who seemed to have gotten the hint their big brothers needed to discuss things in private, had went back to their mother’s side to keep her company.  

Bill hugged George closer to him, not willing to let him go any time soon as he lowered his voice so only his two brothers could hear.  “What day is it, George?” 

George blinked in confusion.  “Saturday?”

“No, George…” Bill sighed in heartbreak.  “It’s  _ Wednesday _ .  What’s the last thing you remember clearly?” 

“…” He had to think long and hard on this, but finally, he answered, “Going into town with Charlie…  We were… shopping… And then… And then…”

“Don’t answer, George,” Charlie whispered.  “Don’t think about it.”

“Charlie?” Bill furrowed his eyebrows; so there  _ had  _ been a trigger… 

“We were in town together; a woman… got attacked…” Charlie chewed his fingernails again.  “I thought George was okay once I got him home… I didn’t… I didn’t realise he’d been stewing on it…” 

“Oh, George…”  It made sense now, Bill understood; George having watched his own assault played out before his eyes on someone else must have been  _ devastating _ .  “Oh, no, George…  Charlie, you should have told me sooner…  Poor thing…” 

Charlie looked to his lap.  He spoke in a defeated tone as he replied with, “I…  I thought he was  _ okay,  _ Bill…” 

Bill shook his head.  He sighed when he heard the doorbell ring.  “You should answer that, Charlie… It might be important.” 

While Charlie was off answering the door, Bill grabbed George’s attention again.  “George, how old are you?” 

It was a reasonable question.  There had been many times over the past eleven years where George had regressed and thought he was five again – so when George whispered, “Eighteen…”, he let out a sigh of relief.  

“George, what do you think of this idea?” 

At Fred’s voice from beside them, Bill moved closer to Fred and Arthur and they could include George in the conversation.  Bill wasn’t listening to whatever crazy idea Arthur had come up with involving an army of rubber ducks; his attention was instead grabbed by Harry and Hermione getting up to join them, with no sign of Charlie returning any time soon.

“I’ve been meaning to give this to you two for a while now, but no one’s really seen or heard from you and we can’t send owls here or they’ll be eaten.” Harry reached into his pocket, and taking careful notice of where Molly’s attention was, he resurfaced with a coin bag so full, it was bulging at the seams.  “It’s my winnings from the Triwizard Tournament, and I know how badly you want your shop opened.” 

“Harry…” Arthur’s expression was so full of emotion, no one knew what was going through his mind in this moment.  He reached out and gently pushed the money back to Harry as he whispered, “As much as I want to see these boys open that shop, I don’t think any of us could in good conscious accept that money…” 

Fred nodded.  “Harry… Thank you…  Thank you so much for thinking about us…  But we’re going to be okay… Really… We’ll get there…” 

“No, it’s fine; please – take it.” Harry smiled brightly, having expected such resistance – but he wasn’t going to give in either, and eventually one of them would have to cave.  “Really. I don’t need this, but you two need that shop.” 

Bill tightened his hold on George into a death grip as he dropped his chin onto his brother’s head.  “Boys, you should – oh, Charlie? You’re back.” 

Behind Charlie was a long-haired blonde woman Bill didn’t recognise.  He raised his eyebrow; well, this was a first. Charlie, however, looked relaxed as he introduced the newcomer.  “This is Sarah. I work with her. She was just checking up on George and I since we haven’t been at work.”

Her eyes caught sight of the broomsticks in the corner, and she laughed.  “Strange brooms to clean with, Charlie.” 

Charlie laughed in return.  He gestured to his parents. “See?  Old-fashioned.” 

Sarah had been accepted easily by everyone except Molly.  Charlie’s brothers and sisters introduced themselves happily and asked her about herself.  Harry and Hermione listened politely to what she had to say. Arthur was over the moon with having a Muggle he could drill over his interests, but Molly… looked oddly giddy.  

Finally, they realised why that was when Charlie had gotten everyone drinks and Sarah had made herself at home with everyone.  

“Oh, it’s so lovely to see my Charlie finally has a girlfriend!  I was starting to think he was gay or something, what with the way he’s never so much as had a single date!” 

The room fell silent, and all eyes fixed on Charlie.  No one said anything until Charlie cleared his throat uncomfortably.  “Would you have disowned me if I  _ was  _ gay, mum…?” 

Molly’s mouth gaped.  “What kind of question is that, Charlie?  Of  _ course  _ I wouldn’t disown you!”

“So why was it enough of a problem for you to have mentioned it now?” 

“Because it’s  _ disgusting _ , Charlie!  How can we  _ ever  _ trust you around your younger brothers if you are?!”

The hurt Charlie was feeling was paramount.  “So you’re saying you’ve left  _ all  _ of us alone with Ginny  _ countless  _ times and you trusted all six of us with her, but the second I might be gay, I want to rape Ron…?”

“Hey, why me…?” Ron whined before Bill shushed him gently.  

“Mum, I  _ already  _ have someone I love dearly, and yeah, I’m afraid to say, I’m not with a female…” Charlie fidgeted uncomfortably as Bill reached out to squeeze his knee.  “If you can’t accept me for that, then… Then maybe you should just go home… I’m not going to leave them just because you don’t approve…” 

“Well, either you’re lying to us just to make me angry, Charlie, or you don’t love them at all since you’ve never said  _ anything  _ about them to us!  You can’t love them as much as you say you do if you won’t even introduce them to your  _ family _ !” 

“But, mum…” Fred stood up to move to his brother’s side now.  He ignored the look of panic on Charlie’s face as he realised what the twin had to say.  “Mum, you  _ have  _ met them, and Charlie talks about them all the time.  You’ve met them  _ plenty  _ of times.  Why should he need to prove who he loves to you?” 

“What are you talking about?!” Molly’s nostrils flared as her eyes narrowed.  Charlie knew she was about to snap. “Charlie, what have you been  _ teaching  _ my boys while they’ve been here with you?!” 

“He hasn’t taught us  _ anything,  _ except that it’s  _ okay,  _ mum!” Fred argued back. He sat himself on Charlie’s lap and wrapped his arms tight around his brother, and when he felt strong arms embrace him in return, he relaxed; their mother could throw a fit all she wanted, but she couldn’t break them apart, no matter how hard she would try.  He pressed their lips together in a kiss, despite the loud sounds of mixed reception behind them. When they broke apart, he gestured to George, who was now hiding against Bill’s chest, and muttered, “Georgie is with us, too, mum… We all  _ love  _ each other…” 

None of them had ever seen Molly look so outraged before, so when he had gotten to her feet and started stomping towards the two, Bill was the first standing in front of Charlie and Fred.  His expression was calm as usual, but his voice was hard, and Molly knew that tone meant he wasn’t going to take  _ anyone’s  _ shit.  “Mum, they’re your  _ sons,  _ and they aren’t hurting  _ anyone _ with what they have.  You’ve never accepted  _ anything  _ in that family that’s even  _ slightly  _ out of the normal.  It’s time you stop treating your kids like they can’t think for themselves and are trying to get themselves killed just because they want different things to what  _ you  _ want for them.  I’m sure you can work out for yourself why none of them ever told you – told  _ any  _ of you  _ –  _ about this!  Because they knew how you’d react!” 

“Of course I’m going to react like this when they -!”

“ _ Mum! _ ” It was George’s shout from the couch that sent everyone into silence; if  _ George  _ was raising his voice as well…  “Mum, butt out! I’m  _ happy  _ with Charlie, and so is Fred!  We don’t cut ourselves anymore because he looks after us and  _ helps  _ us!  He doesn’t make me feel bad about myself because of what happened to me like  _ you  _ do – doesn’t make me feel like I’m stupid or abnormal because I used to never want sex or to date someone!  You always made me so depressed because you always told me how you want grandkids from me and I  _ knew  _ I couldn’t because I don’t like girls!  I don’t like  _ anyone  _ in that way except Fred and Charlie!” 

Charlie nodded.  He watched as Arthur reached out to slide the twins’ sleeves up to see if they were indeed telling the truth before he added quietly, “We love you, mum, but if you can’t accept us for who we are…  Well, we’ll be okay…” 

“It’s true, Molly…” Arthur held George’s right arm up in the air for all to see.  “There’s nothing but cat scratches on his arms. Fred’s arms are perfectly fine, too – just scarred.  I think you’re overreacting here; if it’s making the boys happy and not hurting them, we should let them be – and that goes for their joke shop, too.” 

“How can you say that, Arthur?!” Molly roared.  “They’ll throw their futures away with that blasted shop!  And  _ now  _ look at  _ what else  _ they’re going to ruin their lives with!  Did you stop to  _ think  _ how outcast they’ll be if anyone finds out?!  What about  _ us?!   _ We won’t be able to show our  _ faces  _ without people whispering!” 

“Mum, is this about  _ them  _ or  _ you? _ ” Bill sighed.  He moved closer to Charlie and wrapped his arm around his younger brother’s shoulders.  “Because if it’s about _ them,  _ I really don’t think you have anything to worry about; Charlie’s liked other males since he was fifteen and all this time I’ve been the only one who knew until he got with the twins.  They aren’t as stupid as you’re treating them, mum; they aren’t going to get caught out.” 

“You think the rest of our family will accept something so disgusting?!  Bill, I don’t know what you think this is, but they – Ginny?” 

Ginny had moved to her oldest brothers’ sides, and she gave her mother a defiant look as she put her hand on Fred’s knee.  “Why are you so mad about something that obviously makes them all  _ happy,  _ mum?  George clearly hasn’t been trying to kill himself – do you want to take away the only thing that’s kept him  _ stable  _ and have him put back on suicide watch?” 

Molly fell silent at this.  A confused look crossed her face, as if she was torn between agreeing and screaming some more.  

“You guys are bloody disgusting, you know that?” Ron crinkled his nose up in disgust.  “Snogging each other like that in front of us… Keep that stuff behind closed doors –  _ we  _ don’t need to see it!” With that, he moved to join the rest of his siblings.

Bill gave a small laugh.  “Well, maybe you shouldn’t be such a prude, Ronald; only you and mum have a problem with this.  And maybe Percy, but he’d be disapproving of us all no matter  _ what  _ we did.”

“You know, mum; for someone who was always worrying about George, you’ve sure been doing a good job of trying to push him over that edge where he  _ does  _ kill himself,” Ginny muttered.  “He’s actually  _ happy _ ; why try and take that away from him?  You’re his  _ mother,  _ and you should be supporting him no matter what, even if you don’t agree with his choices.” 

From where Harry, Hermione and Sarah remained silent away from the family, knowing it was internal conflict and not their place to get involved with, Hermione mumbled, “She’s actually considering it…” 

“Considering what?” Harry and Sarah whispered back.  

“What Ginny said.  She doesn’t want to hate them – you can see it in her eyes whenever she screams at them.  She just… She’s  _ worried _ …”

“Why would she need to be worried?  It’s as their sister said; he’s happy, and shouldn’t that be the important thing?” Sarah frowned.  “They’re both so lovely… It’s a shame their family is the way they are…” 

“They’re really a great family – they just… don’t know how to handle George at times,” Harry explained.  “They pretty much adopted me into their family; I love them all. But Mrs. Weasley just worries too much.” 

Finally, Molly’s dark expression softened, and she looked drained as she moved to kneel by George’s legs and take both of his hands in hers.  “Sweetheart… Is this  _ really  _ what you want?  Does it  _ really _ make you happy?” 

George nodded.  “I love Charlie and Fred so much, mum…  Everyone said I’d never be able be to… to have sex again…  But I can with them, mum… Only with them… Because I’m  _ happy  _ with them…  I  _ love  _ them…” 

“Molly…” Arthur nodded his head at Charlie and the twins.  “Don’t you have something to say to them?”

Molly sighed.  She took a deep breath before she closed her eyes and squeezed George’s hands as she whispered, “I’m sorry…  I’ve never been able to give you what you need from me, George… I’ll do better…” 

“Mum, you don’t  _ have  _ to do better,” George promised.  “You just have to  _ accept  _ me…  I just…  I really need help right now…  I need my family…” 

The hug Molly had pulled George into was crushing.  “Oh, George… I’m so sorry I haven’t been here for you…  You, too, Fred… And you, Charlie…” 

Fred said nothing, not quite knowing  _ what  _ to say, while Charlie looked pointedly away and muttered, “Don’t let me down again, mum…  It  _ still  _ hurts how you never backed me that day in the hospital…” 

“I’m so sorry, honey…” 

Bill let out a sigh of relief.  “Does this mean I can finally stop being the mediator between everybody?  It was really starting to get tiring – I was starting to get so desperate, I was considering begging Percy to let me stay with him for a while so none of you could find me.” 

Charlie snorted.  He punched his big brother’s arm gently.  “No way; you’re staying right here so the next time I have a problem, I don’t have to track you down and complain to you.”

“Oh, I’m  _ really  _ feeling the love now.” Bill made a show of mock-rolling his eyes before he smiled brightly.  “No, you know I’d never go far, Charlie. Just don’t put me in the middle of family again; this was horrible.” 

Finally, Fred’s tense shoulders relaxed.  “The desperation is real if you’re considering going to  _ Percy  _ of all people.  Though he’d be too busy with his cauldron bottoms to even remember he has a guest staying with him.” 

“Percy isn’t so bad,” George defended.  

“You’re only saying that because you were the only person he ever really paid attention to.” Bill patted George’s head affectionately.  “Now, the  _ rest  _ of us acknowledge what a boring person he is.” 

“Can you remember the last time they’ve all talked like this?” Harry whispered to Hermione.  

She shook her head.  “No… It’s like nothing ever happened – like the rift is almost gone.  Ron and Mrs. Weasley are still a little… off… But no one’s screaming anymore.  They’re being  _ normal _ .” 

“They probably won’t ever be the same again, but this is better than the internal meltdown from before,” Harry agreed.  

And it was true; now that everyone had calmed down and most of the tension was gone, the day had gone quickly and dinner had been enjoyed by everyone, and even Sarah had stayed and been welcomed as Charlie and George’s good friend.  

Dinner didn’t go without a hitch; whatever delusions George had been suffering from made a comeback, and with the distress he had suffered, Charlie had put him to bed to get some sleep.  His family and friends all stayed, though, and for the first time in over a year, Charlie felt truly at peace – content, despite everything that had happened. 

Things weren’t perfect – and he had a suspicion they never could be and whatever damage had been inflicted between them all would never heal one-hundred percent – but at least, as he sat in the living room with everyone gathered around, a few bottles of alcohol scattered amongst the boys and his arm slung loosely around Bill’s shoulders as he used the other to himself upright in his drunken state, he didn’t mind; if he could at least have his family back for nights like these, everything would be okay.  

It would just be nice if he could have his old life back as well.   


	23. Chapter 23

“Do I  _ have  _ to go…?” 

Bill looked at his brother by his side, and as they walked together on the side of the road with the two puppies belonging to Fred and Charlie in front of them, he wrapped his arms around George’s shoulders and smiled.  “You don’t  _ have  _ to, but I really think it would be good for you to talk to a professional.  You know you can always talk to  _ us,  _ but we don’t know the best way to help you other than listen, George.” 

George frowned.  He didn’t want to talk to a stranger about everything that had happened to him, but he knew his brothers were worried.  He didn’t have any memory of it, but he’d heard Charlie and Bill whispering to each other in the living room when they thought George was still outside with Skye, about how George was hallucinating and freaking out.  

But Bill cared so much, he’d gone through the effort of organising sessions with something the Muggles called a  _ psychologist _ … 

“And, you know, what with Fred being over in Diagon Alley getting your new shop all set up, it might even be good for you to talk to someone and learn some new coping skills before you start work.  I’m sure you’ll do just fine, George, but some customers can be very difficult.” 

George stared at his feet as he watched himself kick up tiny stones with each step he took through the dirt.  “…I’ve been…  _ dreaming _ … about it more than I have in a while…  Charlie tells me I keep… I keep wetting the bed at night…  I haven’t done that since I was fifteen…” 

“What is it that you dream about, George?” 

The younger frowned.  He thought about the question, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to answer it; though he talked to his family about his emotions, he had never told them  _ anything  _ about what had happened that day – they’d concluded enough on their own, and he didn’t feel as if they needed to know any more details about his attack.  

“About what he did to me…  About…” He licked his lips.  “…About him…  _ finding  _ me again…” 

“Are you scared he’s going to come back?” Bill frowned when he received a tiny nod in response.  “Have you  _ always  _ been scared of him coming back?” 

“Yeah…  And seeing that woman that day…” George passed the dog leashes to Bill so he could hug himself.  “…I… I-I guess I… I realised how much I’ve… been letting my guard down… What if he breaks into our house one day, and Charlie isn’t home…?” 

“George, I need you to trust what I am about to tell you,” Bill murmured.  “The odds of you ever seeing that man again are very slim. For all we know, he could be dead.  He could have died the same day he hurt you, and we wouldn’t know any better. I  _ believe  _ you when you tell me you’re afraid, and I  _ understand  _ why you feel that way.  But George, after all these years… he hasn’t come back again, has he?”

“No…” 

“And if you’re scared of him finding you alone, just remember, George; you were  _ five  _ when he got his hands on you.  You couldn’t have fought back even if you’d tried.  But you’re not five anymore; you’re eighteen, and you  _ can  _ defend yourself.  Even if he takes your wand from you, you still have your fists – and we  _ all  _ know you can pack a punch if you really wanted to, George.  You’re not defenceless; you  _ can  _ take care of yourself, even against  _ him _ .” 

“What if I lose my nerve, Bill…?  What if… I can’t do anything…?” 

“George – even if magic fails you, Charlie told me how you punched Fred the day you left Hogwarts.  Honestly, I’m glad it was Fred and not me you punched because with all the Quidditch you two played in school, you’re going to do some serious damage and one would have to be crazy to try and pick a fight with you.” 

Bill didn’t think George believed him; the younger only fell silent, not saying another word until they’d gotten home and he’d mumbled about how he was going out with Skye for a while.  Bill had smiled at him, and while George had been with his dragon for a few hours, he’d fed the puppies and played with them before he grabbed a bottle of beer from the fridge and made himself comfortable in front of the TV, waiting patiently for Charlie to finish work. 

He’d heard George come back inside once the thunder started rumbling and the rainclouds burst open, but he didn’t bother his brother; he didn’t need to follow George around everywhere, breathing down the other’s neck like everyone else in the family seemed to do to him because George  _ could  _ look after himself – it was just hard making  _ everyone  _ understand that.  

But, once the minutes had turned to hours and he hadn’t heard once from George, eleven years of suicide watch had honed his instincts into knowing that this was very,  _ very  _ bad.  He dried the last of the dishes he had just washed before he made his way upstairs and to his brothers’ bedroom.  

“George?” He knocked.  “George, are you in here?” 

He pushed the door open, expecting his brother to be asleep – or at least,  _ hoping  _ he was – but instead, his eyes widened and his cheeks flushed as he stuttered, “S-sorry, George, I-I d-didn’t realise y-you were busy!”

He’d been halfway through shutting the door when he noticed all of the red on the blankets. His jaw dropped at the red splashes along George’s thighs and the discoloration on the vibrator even Bill could see was being thrust in and out  _ far  _ too harshly.  

“George, stop!” Bill rushed forward to grab at his brother’s wrist and stop him from hurting himself more, but all it accomplished was an angry noise from George and the younger trying to jerk himself away from his brother’s body.  “George! You’re hurting yourself!” 

“I  _ want  _ to hurt myself!” George yelled back.  “I  _ want  _ to feel pain down there!” 

“Damnit, George!” Finally, Bill had wrestled the vibrator away.  “ _ Listen  _ to me, George!  I  _ don’t  _ understand what you’re going through!  I can say I do, but I  _ don’t _ !  But I know what  _ Charlie  _ is going through!  And Fred! Because I’m going through the same thing as they are – worrying our heads off about you!”

George didn’t respond to those words; he only pulled himself onto his brother’s lap and slammed his hips down against Bill’s cock.  His expression was so twisted, Bill had no idea what to think about George snarled, “ _ Rape  _ me, Bill!  Hold me down and rape me until I pass out from the pain!” 

The last thing Bill wanted was to hurt his damaged brother, so his resistance to George didn’t involve much more than trying to keep the younger restrained in his arms – that was, until George had broken free and gotten both of their pants down past their hips. 

“ _ George _ !” Bill roared when the other grinded his rear into his unclothed hips.  His fingers curled tightly into George’s upper arms, hard enough that bruising would be there the next day, and he shook his brother ferociously.  “George, how  _ dare  _ you!  I  _ love  _ you, George, but when I tell you no, I  _ mean  _ it!” 

The curse-breaker withdrew his wand, and within seconds George was laying still on the mattress as his eyes flickered around the room angrily.  Bill dragged his fingers through his hair as he panted heavily and surveyed the scene; what the  _ hell  _ had just happened…?

“Bill…?” 

Bill turned around at his name, and he felt relief wash through him as Charlie looked between him and George in disbelief.  “You’re home…”

If this were anyone else, they may have yelled and screamed and  _ accused  _ at just how bad this looked; Bill still had his pants down and George was bare from the bottom down, and with all the blood on the bed and the liquid still leaking out of George’s behind, it must have looked horrific.  

But Charlie wasn’t just  _ anyone _ , and he moved straight to George’s side to assess the damage.  “What did he do, Bill…?”

Charlie was too sweet for all this, Bill acknowledged.  He’d been put through hell by his family and friends, accused of devastating things, but throughout it all, he still stood by his loved ones’ sides unwaveringly.  

“He…” Bill pulled his pants up and fastened his belt before he moved back to the bed and pinched the very edge of the vibrator between the tips of his thumb and index finger.  “He was using that… I took it off him, and he just… He almost raped me…” 

Charlie nodded.  He cleaned his lover’s thighs of blood with his wand before he grabbed George’s pants from the floor and redressed him.  He scooped the younger up in his arms before he turned to Bill. “We’ve done what we can for him, Bill. We need  _ help _ .”  

 

* * *

 

“He’s not in a good way, I’m afraid.  We can try and treat him, but he’s gone so long without help, it may be a long journey.” 

Charlie’s eyes fixed on George’s sleeping form.  He looked so peaceful for once, but that could have been from the heavy sedation the Muggles had given him.  He didn’t remember what Bill had told him these lot were; just that, Bill had promised, they could help. 

“Can we be alone with him for a little while…” Charlie was thankful the man in the white robes left the room respectfully; he didn’t have to stress about how he was going to tell Bill, “If we’re leaving him here for treatment, we need to seal off his magic – who knows what’ll happen…”

Bill nodded.  They’d already stripped the boy of his wand previously, so all that was left was taking out his own and pointing it at his brother.  “I’ll do it.” 

“No, wait!” Charlie lowered the older male’s hand.  “…I… I can… He’s my boyfriend… I should have been looking after him better, and I just kept failing him…”

“You didn’t fail him,” Bill promised as he listened to the smaller male start mumbling incantations.  “You did your best; you gave him the love no one else knew how to give him – and now you’re doing the best thing for him and leaving him with trained professionals, no matter how hard this is for all of us…”

Not another word was spoken until the incantations were finished and a tiny, black tattoo-like mark appeared on George’s right wrist.  Charlie shook his head. “Fred is going to be heartbroken when I tell him…” 

“Fred will  _ understand _ ; he’d much rather his brother be hospitalised than to have something happen.  Now don’t beat yourself up over this.” 

Charlie knew Bill was right.  He  _ knew  _ he was right.  But even so… “Oh, Bill…  I hope he isn’t going to hate me when he wakes up…”

“He won’t hate you, Charlie.  He  _ won’t _ .  Do you want to stay here with him longer?  I can go to Diagon and talk to Fred about it so he isn’t going to panic when he gets home.” 

“…I…  I don’t think I  _ can,  _ Bill…” Charlie dropped his face into his hands.  “…I think I need to go home and lay down; this is…  This is a lot to take in…” 

Bill wrapped his arm around his brother’s shoulders.  “Come on, then. Let’s get you home.” 

Charlie said nothing, not even when he’d finally been escorted into his bedroom and over to the bed.  He’d gone to lay down, but as soon as the dried splotches of blood caught his eye, he almost vomited as his heart sped up.  

“B-bill, can you change the sheets for me?” He moved to the furthest corner away from the bed, watching as Bill obeyed, and finally, he was laying in his bed as Bill tucked him in tight, just like he used to when they were children.  

“I’m going to see Fred.  Hang tight, bro; I won’t be long.” 

Diagon Alley was easy enough to get to when one held their Apparition license, so it didn’t take long at all for Bill to be strolling through the streets, heading to the building his twin brothers had purchased a week ago.  The magical wards Fred had set up to keep Death Eaters out allowed him through the front doors without a problem, so when he called out for Fred, who had his back turned to the older male on the other side of the room, Fred wasn’t alarmed by the unexpected visitor.

“Hey, Bill.” Fred gestured to the shelves he had been putting up on the wall.  He grinned, and his eyes shone with so much joy, Bill knew Harry giving them that money was the best thing they could have done for the twins.  “Still setting up. Wanna get some lunch or something?” 

“We might need to hold off on the eating, Fred…” It was Bill’s quiet voice that made Fred’s smile vanish.  “…I have some bad news…”

“It’s about George, isn’t it…?” Fred looked to the ground.  “…He’s okay, though. …Right, Bill…?” 

“I…  I don’t want to lie to you, Fred…  We don’t  _ know _ .  Charlie and I had to take him to a hospital the Muggles have set up for people like George.  They’re going to try and help him, but… We don’t know…” 

Once Fred had processed those words, Bill wasn’t sure he’d ever seen the younger cry as much as he did right now.   


	24. Chapter 24

“I hear you guys have a fellytone now!” 

Charlie cocked his head at his father’s voice, having not heard his family Apparate into his living room.  He followed Arthur’s excitement from the kitchen so he could poke his head around the doorway and smile at his family.  “Yes, dad, we do.”

Arthur was like a child at Christmas.  His eyes glinted with excitement. “Ooh, ooh, where is it?!  I want to look! Can I use it?! Please~?” 

Charlie chuckled. He pointed to the telephone on the coffee table before he approached and explained all about it, showing him how it was used and even allowing him to order pizza for delivery, although he had to be told not to yell into the receiver and just talk normally.  

While Arthur was making the order (in between talking to the poor staff members who were being quizzed all about how they  _ made  _ the pizza), Ron cleared his throat and addressed what was on everyone’s minds.  

“George  _ is  _ coming home today, right?” Ron frowned.  “It’s just you here.” 

“He is,” Charlie promised.  “Fred is bringing him home, and Bill will be here soon.  They shouldn’t be much longer.” 

Molly made a loud sniffing noise, which Charlie knew was her holding back tears.  Ginny, however, asked, “Is he okay, Charlie? Is he…  _ better _ ?” 

“He’s okay, Ginny,” the ex-dragon keeper promised.  “But better? Well… He’s been good every time we’ve visited him, but he might never be… one hundred percent.  We made the mistake of thinking he was going to be just fine, but… He slipped backwards – not through any fault of his own, but…  But because there’s  _ always  _ going to be trauma in his mind.  We just need to help him through it when he slips, is all.” 

Molly’s tears finally fell now, and Ron and Ginny looked devastated.  Arthur, who had been so focused on the phone, missed the conversation and was still busy playing with the device, taking no notice of the atmosphere in his excitement.  

“Has anyone told Percy…?” Charlie wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the answer; it seemed that with each day, Percy only put more and more of a crater between he and his family.  

“I wrote to him…” Of course Ron had; Ron was the only person in the family Percy still talked with…  “He… He didn’t say much back about it…” 

The pang of hurt that ripped through Charlie was paramount; after everything that had happened…  Percy was even taking it out on _ George _ .  “…Nobody tell the twins that…  They don’t need to know…” 

As Charlie had said earlier, Fred and George arrived home together, with Lee Jordan in tow as Charlie had suspected would happen.  George, who hadn’t been told his family would be there, was taken by surprise at all of the hugs he had to endure. 

“Really, guys…” George returned the awkward hug Ron gave him, with even more awkwardness, before he fixed his family with a stern expression.  “I’m  _ fine _ .  I didn’t get attacked by Death Eaters, you know…” 

“Don’t you tell us you’re fine and we aren’t allowed to worry when you just got out of a  _ hospital _ !” George knew Ginny’s fiery temper well enough to know that she wasn’t mad in this moment, despite the punch to his arm she gave him; it was mock-anger, and instead her bright grin gave away the joy she  _ really  _ felt. 

George laughed softly before he finally noticed who was missing.  “I understand Percy, but… Where’s Bill…?” 

Molly turned her nose upward now.  “Off with his new  _ girlfriend _ , I imagine…” 

“You’re disapproving of Bill’s  _ real  _ girlfriend but my  _ fake  _ girlfriend you loved, mum.  You’d better get your priorities in check; they aren’t making much sense.” Charlie chuckled.

Molly waved a dismissive hand.  “I don’t trust that girl… Not after…” 

If George had had any questions, he didn’t anymore when the tell-tale crack of Apparition signalled that Bill had returned, and someone was with him.  He was surprised to see the Veela he recognised from the Triwizard Tournament, but what confused – and horrified – him the most was the way Bill’s face had been all torn up, with deep gashes that looked as if he’d been put through a blender. 

“Bill!” 

Bill hugged his little brother tight when George ran to him and embraced him.  Though his scars made his smile much more crinkled and distorted, it was there nonetheless, and George knew it was as gentle as ever.  “Werewolf, George. But not to worry; I’m still the big brother you know.” 

George had  _ a lot  _ of questions, but it seemed his had to wait as everyone was talking at once, and he didn’t know where to concentrate.  He also fell silent when Charlie managed to shush everyone so he could speak, and though he knew he should feel uncomfortable with the way everyone was talking about him, he didn’t; instead, he felt oddly curious. 

“He’s on a new medication, and he has to take those every day as well as attend weekly therapy appointments,” Charlie was explaining.  “He’s doing a lot better than when we took him there, but the nurses explained that with how long he’s gone without treatment, more relapses will be likely in the future.  He’s going to –“

“-Owww!” George howled in pain as Molly grabbed him and tried to put him onto her lap, and though he may have been okay with how cushiony her lap was, her knee colliding with his rear almost had him in tears; he was still so torn up internally from having been spending months shoving whatever he could fit inside of him, and though he had healed mentally enough to have stopped doing so, his body was still stitched and susceptible to pain.  

“Mum, leave him alone when he’s on his special cushion!” Fred pointed to the cushion Charlie had never noticed before but figured one of the boys had brought it along.  “Lee and I got it for him so it doesn’t  _ hurt  _ him like  _ your  _ fat tush will!” 

The room fell silent, and everyone could only watch with baited breaths as Fred realised what he had said and got up so he could flee for his life, Molly right on his heels with enough steam erupting from her nostrils to put even the most fierce dragon to shame.  

Finally, they all laughed, even George, who was shifting in discomfort as Lee gently helped him get more comfortable on his new pillow so soft, it was like sinking into heaven.  

Whatever tension had still been in that room since everyone’s arrival was now gone, and everyone was talking animatedly amongst themselves.  Molly had returned with a triumphant look on her face as she took her seat next to Arthur once more and boasted, “Fred will think twice about calling  _ anyone  _ fat now.” 

“Err…” Lee scratched the back of his head sheepishly.  “He’s still  _ alive,  _ though, right?” 

His question was answered when Fred came limping back into the room, massaging his behind and shaking his head at Lee to say he’d tell him later.  He pretended not to see Molly as he made his way to Arthur so he could lean in close and say, “That toaster you wanted, dad? I made it – just for you.  I made some other neat little things for you, too – I’m sure you’re going to love the plugs and batteries I have for you.” 

Ron gasped loudly as he realised something, gathering everyone’s attention.  “Does this mean you’re finally opening the shop, Fred?” 

George bit his lip as he looked to his twin.  “You didn’t open it because I wasn’t here?”

“Well of course, Georgie.” Fred shrugged.  “It’s  _ our  _ shop and  _ our  _ dream.  I didn’t want to open it without you.” 

“You didn’t  _ have  _ to…” George mumbled.  

“Yes, I  _ did  _ have to,” Fred announced.  “And tomorrow you’re coming with me to finish setting up because I wouldn’t even do  _ that  _ without you.” 

“Oh, can I help, too?” Ron looked so excited, Fred almost pitied him enough to say yes.  

But, of course, pity wasn’t enough to stop Fred from saying, “Maybe in your dreams, Ron.  We’d have only used you as slave labour while Georgie and I laze about watching you and yelling about how you’re doing it all wrong and to start all over again, anyway.” 

Ron pouted.  Ginny laughed, and her eyes crinkled as she asked, “Can  _ I  _ help, Fred?” 

Twin sneers crossed Fred and George’s faces now as they said together, “Of course  _ you  _ can, Ginny.  Bill, you want to help us, too?  We’d invite you along as well, Charlie, but…”

“Mum, you want to help?” George laughed as the horrified look on Ron’s face only continued growing.

“What about you, dad?” 

“Hell, let’s invite  _ Percy  _ to help!” They finally finished together. 

And with that, the entire room was laughing so hard – minus Ron, whose entire face had gone so red, it matched his hair – that everyone had almost forgotten everything bad that had ever happened in their family because right now, all that mattered was the fact that they could all be so happy together.   


End file.
